nanny state

English

Etymology

Of British origin. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Noun

nanny state (plural nanny states)

1. (derogatory) A state whose government institutions are authoritative and over-paternalistic, interfering with and controlling people's lives. [from mid-20th c.]
   • 2009, Mark Fisher, chapter 8, in Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?, Zero Books, →ISBN, page 63:

     Scapegoating an impotent government (running around to clean up the messes made by its business friends) arises from bad faith, from a continuing hostility to the Nanny State that nevertheless goes alongside a refusal to accept the consequences of the sidelining of government in global capitalism […]

Antonyms

• minimal state
• night watchman state

Derived terms

• nanny stater

Translations

over-paternalistic government

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 保姆國家／保姆国家 (bǎo mǔ guó jiā)

• French: état nounou m, état paternaliste m, gouvernemaman (fr)
• German: Bevormundungsstaat m, Gouvernantenstaat m
• Italian: Stato-balia m
• Spanish: estado paternalista m
• Swedish: förmyndarstat c

Further reading

• nanny state on Wikipedia.Wikipedia