to rubber-stamp
phrasal verb

- to officially approve a decision or plan without thinking about it

- to approve, endorse, or dispose of as a matter of routine or at the command of another

The Cambridge Dictionary / Merriam-Webster

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WORD ORIGIN

The term "rubber-stamp" is from 1879 "an instrument for stamping by hand with ink, having letters or numbers cast in vulcanized rubber".

The figurative sense of "a thing or institution whose power is formal but not real" is evidenced by 1901 (on the notion of rubber-stamping "approved" or some such thing on everything given to it by the real powers).

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THE RUBBER-STAMPED PREGNANCY

Most people are familiar with the image of a bureaucrat sitting behind a desk, spending eight hours a day rubber-stamping one piece of paper after another.

The following story provides a new twist to this stereotype:

A young woman, two months pregnant, went to see her doctor with her husband. The doctor was in a hurry to leave on an emergency call, so he asked her to quickly bare her stomach. He reached into his desk and took out a rubber stamp, which he pressed beside her navel (Bauchnabel). He then rushed off.

When they got home, the couple tried to read the tiny words printed on the wife’s belly, but the print was much too small. Using a magnifying glass they read what the doctor had rubber-stamped:

"When your husband can read this without his glasses, it’s time to get yourself to the hospital."

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SYNONYMS
To authorise or indicate approval

A-OK, agree, approve, authorise, clear, countersign, endorse, give a seal/stamp of approval to, give clearance/permission, give the go-ahead/the green light/nod/OK/thumbs up to, notarise, OK, pass, ratify, RUBBER-STAMP, sanction, say yes to, sign off on, undersign, underwrite, validate, verify, vouch for, warrant

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SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation, say something like:

"Jim was in a hurry. He RUBBER-STAMPED our proposal without asking any questions."

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THANKS to Irene for suggesting today’s OWAD.

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Paul Smith, IBAN: DE75 7316 0000 0002 5477 40