Red TapeRed Tape : PhrasesMeaning: Rigid or mechanical adherence to bureaucratic rules and regulations especially those involving unnecessary paperwork. Example: Origin: Legal and official documents have been bound with red tape since the 17th century and continue to be so. The first reference I can find to this practice is the 1696-1715 Maryland Laws: "The Map upon the Backside thereof sealed with his Excellency's Seal at Arms on a Red Cross with Red Tape." We now usually mean fussy or unnecessary bureaucracy when we refer to 'red tape'. The first record I have of it being used in that sense is from The pleader's guide, 1796. This spoof verse, purporting to be the work of John Surrebutter (a deceased barrister) was a satire on the fussiness of English law. It includes the lines: Nor would the Fates... Cut the red-tape of thy years. This is part-way towards a metaphorical usage of the term, albeit still clearly referring to actual lawyer's red-tape. The first entirely figurative usage of 'red-tape' that I can find is in Edward Bulwer-Lytton in Alice, or the Mysteries, 1838: "The men of more dazzling genius began to sneer at the red-tape minister as a mere official manager of details." Phrases Index
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