green tape
excessive environmental regulations
TRANSLATION
green tape = überzogene Umweltvorschriften --- GOOGLE INDEX green tape: approximately 325,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
Companies urge war on environmental GREEN TAPE
(The Australian)
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The Government has announced plans to streamline GREEN TAPE regulations that are affecting major projects, but Queensland Premier Campbell Newman says the plans do not go far enough.
(ABC news)
(The Australian)
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The Government has announced plans to streamline GREEN TAPE regulations that are affecting major projects, but Queensland Premier Campbell Newman says the plans do not go far enough.
(ABC news)
Did you
know?
green tape
noun phrase
- excessive environmental regulations and guidelines that must be followed before an official action can be taken
(Wordspy)
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Before there was green tape, there was red tape, which the Cambridge Dictionary defines as "official rules and processes that seem unnecessary and delay results," such as the meanwhile infamous "banana regulation" established by the European Union.
This rule, officially known as Commission Regulation (EC) 2257/94, stipulates that bananas must be "free from malformation or abnormal curvature." Red tape haters delighted in interpreting the rule to mean that all bananas must be straight, although "abnormal curvature" was never defined. Perhaps in this case "yellow tape" would be a more appropriate term.
The English must accept the blame for red tape, which originated in the 17th century from the practice of tying official documents together with red-coloured ribbon, or tape as it also called. One of the first recorded instances was when Henry VIII bombarded Pope Clement VII with roughly 80 petitions to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. The documents were all tied together with red tape to make them look official. Sometime in the 18th century the pejorative sense of red tape appeared.
It's difficult to say who is responsible for green tape, although Europe has generally led the way in implementing regulations to protect the environment. It's also unclear where and when the term green tape originated, but a Google search produces many results from Australian media sources.
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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"A lot of green tape has as much to do with politics as with the environment."
noun phrase
- excessive environmental regulations and guidelines that must be followed before an official action can be taken
(Wordspy)
---
Before there was green tape, there was red tape, which the Cambridge Dictionary defines as "official rules and processes that seem unnecessary and delay results," such as the meanwhile infamous "banana regulation" established by the European Union.
This rule, officially known as Commission Regulation (EC) 2257/94, stipulates that bananas must be "free from malformation or abnormal curvature." Red tape haters delighted in interpreting the rule to mean that all bananas must be straight, although "abnormal curvature" was never defined. Perhaps in this case "yellow tape" would be a more appropriate term.
The English must accept the blame for red tape, which originated in the 17th century from the practice of tying official documents together with red-coloured ribbon, or tape as it also called. One of the first recorded instances was when Henry VIII bombarded Pope Clement VII with roughly 80 petitions to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. The documents were all tied together with red tape to make them look official. Sometime in the 18th century the pejorative sense of red tape appeared.
It's difficult to say who is responsible for green tape, although Europe has generally led the way in implementing regulations to protect the environment. It's also unclear where and when the term green tape originated, but a Google search produces many results from Australian media sources.
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"A lot of green tape has as much to do with politics as with the environment."
