There's too much red tape to get the permit.
red tape
idiomTime-consuming regulations or bureaucratic procedures.
Origin
first recorded 17th c.Alluding to the former practice of binding government documents in red-colored tape. First use appears c. 1658 in the publication Public Intelligencer. See cite below.
Starting a business here is slow because of all the red tape you have to go through.
The aid shipment sat in the port for weeks, tangled in red tape that no one seemed able to cut.
- 01
bleed red ink
To suffer from severe net losses.
- 02
clap one's hands red
To clap or applaud intensely.
- 03
cut red tape
To reduce bureaucracy.
- 04
neither fish, flesh, nor good red herring
Synonym of neither fish nor fowl (“not easily categorized; not rightly belonging or fitting well in a given group or situation; also, not having the advantages of the various options”).
- 05
paint the town red
To party or celebrate in a rowdy, wild manner, especially in a public place.
- 06
play the same tape
To repeat exactly what one previously said or did.
- 07
put on the red light
To advertise oneself as a prostitute.
- 08
Red Baron
A hotshot fighter pilot.