Name and Shame
Meaning
The publication of the identity of a person or group that is culpable in some anti-social act in order to shame them into remorse.
Origin
The phrase has been known since the late 19th century as a noun phrase. For example, this piece from the Pennsylvania newspaper The Warren Ledger, October 1884:
“None are willing to father the name and shame of being beer or whisky men.”
It began to be used in the 1990s as a verb phrase, following an initiative by the UK Government. On Oct 8, 1996 The Independent reported that:
“The Home Secretary [Conservative minister Michael Howard] is also expected to suggest a scheme to ‘name and shame’ young offenders by giving courts the power to remove the automatic anonymity for under-18s.”
