... the bureaucratic process is often referred to as "red tape"?
The term "red tape" was made famous in the 1900's by Thomas Carlyle, who charged the
English government with "red tapism." He was referring to the government's practice in those days of
binding official papers in red ribbon. Since a matter having to go through government channels could be
slowed down by the tying and untying of stacks of such bound documents, the process became known,
unaffectionately, as "going through red tape."
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