dysnomy

plural dysnomies

1. countablerareuncountableBad legislation; the enactment of bad laws.

   This is a dysnomy that should never find its way to the statute book. In the hands of a partisan and unscrupulous Governor it can be used to oppress his political opponents.

   1894 December 19, “The Metropolitan Police”, in The Fairfield News and Herald, volume 49, number 19, Winnsboro, S.C.: News and Herald Company, page 2

   2 more examples

   Only a few years elapsed when the Legislature, encouraged by this malign ruling, passed a law creating cities of the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh class each. Again the people appealed to the Supreme Court. The situation became alarming. There was no telling where this kind of dysnomy would lead to or when it would cease.

   1901 January 17, “Norristown Letter”, in The Bucks County Gazette, volume 28, number 24, Bristol, Pa., page 3

   Oregon has an income tax law, and now if the predictions of its opponents are going to be justified, there will be an exodus of the large corporations that have been making big profits in the state. But there does not seem to be any scramble for the trains out. Opponents of the tax law are pointing to it as another sample of the dysnomy brought about by the Oregon system of lawmaking.

   1923 December 6, “No Stampede from Oregon”, in The Oregon Daily Journal, volume 21, number 231, Portland, Oregon, page 10