red tape | Idiomator

Meaning: Thebindingtapeonce used forholdingimportantdocumentstogether.1884, Eliezer Edwards,Words, Facts and Phrases ...curious, Quaint and Out-of-the Way Matters, page469:The use ofred tapefor tying up papers is of considerable antiquity. An advertisement in the Public Intelligencer, December 6, 1658, offers the reward for a restoration of a 'A little bundle of papers tied with ared tape, were lost on Friday last was a sevennight, between Worcester House and Lincoln's Inn.1892,Walter Besant, chapter II, inThe Ivory Gate[…], New York, N.Y.:Harper & Brothers,[…],→OCLC:At twilight in the summer there is never anybody to fear—man, woman, or cat—in the chambers and at that hour the mice come out. They do not eat parchment or foolscap orred tape, but they eat the luncheon crumbs.; (metonymic,idiomatic)Time-consumingregulationsorbureaucraticprocedures.Synonyms:administrivia,administrativia,paperworkAll thered tapeand paperwork that goes on there prevents any progress.1979, United States Senate, Committee on Finance,Crude Oil Tax‎[1], U.S. Government Printing Office:That committee does not cut throughred tape; it merely provides better scheduling for different agencies so you do not have sequential review by different agencies , so that you have some kind of simultaneity in the review by different agencies.2022October 5,David Wallace-Wells, “Progressives Should Rally Around a Clean Energy Construction Boom”, inThe New York Times‎[2]:One conspicuous cost of the compromise reached was a promise made by Senator Chuck Schumer to Manchin on what was vaguely called permitting reform: a catchall phrase referring to a whole host of efforts to cutred tapeand ease the rollout of energy infrastructure.2023June 23, Jonathan Freedland, “With even leavers regretting Brexit, there’s one path back to rejoining the EU”, inThe Guardian‎[3],→ISSN:They said we’d be free of all that tedious Europeanred tapeand would take back control of our borders, encouraging anyone agitated by immigration to believe that fewer people would come in.[…]Post-Brexitred tapeis strangling thousands of small businesses, whether travelling musicians or exporters of goods, tying them up in daunting forms or extra charges that cost time and money they don’t have.

Examples:

EN: You can hide behind a lot of red tape, crooked lawyers, habeas corpus, witnesses that don't remember, but we'll get through to you like the rest.
ES: Puedes esconderte tras la burocracia, abogados y políticos órdenes de hábeas corpus y testigos sin memoria pero te atraparemos como atrapamos al resto.
EN: And they can continue Involving us in red tape Almost as long As they please.
ES: Y todo esta burocracia puede durar todo lo que les plazca.
EN: We can fix up this red tape later.
ES: Podemos arreglar el papeleo más tarde.
EN: Ain't there some quick way without a lot of red tape?
ES: ¿No hay un modo rápido?
EN: - We're abolishing red tape
ES: ¡Por escrito! - ¡Se acabaron los papeleos!
EN: The old - The old man's a stickler for red tape.
ES: El viejo es muy respetuoso del papeleo.
EN: Oh, lot of red tape! I'll bring your things. - No, thanks.
ES: Este compartimiento está reservado para la señora.
EN: I hate overtures, lovemaking is the red tape of marriage, it doesn't get you anywhere
ES: Detesto cortejar. El galanteo es la burocracia del matrimonio. No te lleva a ninguna parte.
EN: She's running into all sorts of legal red tape over there.
ES: Hay muchos trámites legales.
EN: No red tape any more
ES: Eso no es problema.
EN: Now I'm back in business, and I need you, and I ain't got no time for no red tape.
ES: Debo volver a trabajar y no tengo... tiempo para burocracias.
EN: Same formality and red tape.
ES: Con los mismos trámites y formalidades.
EN: What, you who fought red tape all your life?
ES: ¿Has luchado contra la burocracia toda tu vida?
EN: - Why? Well, you gotta go through such red tape to get a suit back from the morgue.
ES: Es casi imposible recuperar un traje de la morgue.
EN: We should have sent him a bunch of forget-me-nots tied up in diplomatic red tape.
ES: Le enviaremos un puñado de notas de disculpa atadas con una cinta roja diplomática.

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