What is RED TAPE in Spanish?

"It seems Spiderman is out of fluid web again!"
In English, Red Tape is an expression of Bureaucracy. 
When they say in English that "there's a lot of red tape to cut" that means that a lot of bureaucratic procedures are involved. The best thing to do is then to be extremely patient.
Apparently the term comes all the way from the XVII or XVIII century when in Europe documents were customarily bound with red tape. Most of those documents were obviously bureaucratic in nature.
Curiously, in Spanish we don't have such expression, or something similar, we don't talk about any CINTA ROJA. We don't talk about having to cut any red tape unless it is time to inaugurate some place. 
It is not that we do not have Bureaucracy. It exists also here and is, like in any other place, relentless, remorseless and omnipresent.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What are LAS TRES MARÍAS called in English?

Image
(Left to right:  Alnitak ,  Alnilam  and  Mintaka )  The TRES MARIAS is this group of three bright stars that are apparently at the same distance from one another though in reality none is at the same distance. They are called like that in most of Latin America and apparently they are called the THREE KINGS (the Magi) in the Philippine Islands. The TRES MARIAS after whom those stars are named are Mary, mother of Jesus; Mary Magdalene and Mary, the wife of Clopas (probably a relative of Jesus's). To find them in the sky means you are also looking at the constellation of Orion (the Warrior), to be more precise, its belt because that is precisely what the TRES MARIAS are called in English: Orion's Belt.
Read more

The Maps of Ship-Trap Island

Image
Once I had my high school students read The Most Dangerous Game, a short story by Richard Connell. Rainsford, the main character, is a professional hunter traveling by ship to his next hunting area, accidentally ends up in an island called Ship- Trap island. When he goes into the island he finds there are two men living in a palace in the island. One of them is a Cossack general and the other, his brutish servant.  The Cossack is called general Zaroff who is also  a game hunter but has become bored of hunting regular game and now uses the island's unique position to capture sailors from shipwrecks. He lets them go first and next after some time he hunts them down. Rainford's arrival who is worldwide famous presents Zaroff with a rare opportunity to find excitement in hunting again by hunting another hunter. Little does Zaroff know that Rainsford is The Most Dangerous Game in the World and hunting him will not be easy at all. My students enjoyed themselves at reading
Read more

How do you say NACIMIENTO NAVIDEÑO in English?

Image
"Oh no! Not another power blackout!"             NACIMIENTO NAVIDEÑO or PESEBRE NAVIDEÑO is a tradition which consists in recreating the moment of Jesus Christ's birth with small figures representing Joseph, Mary, the shepherds and the Wise Kings. Baby Jesus is set on December 25th of course, while the other figures are placed before, usually at the beginning of December.       The translation is NATIVITY SCENE, though some people only say CHRISTMAS SCENE. This last term is a bit broad -- even an image of Santa Claus riding his sleigh falls under that description. Saying CHRISTMAS NATIVITY SCENE would be perhaps more appropriate.                                                                                        Merry Christmas!     
Read more