Doc Jargon: Cutting red tape makes tasks easier

Photo By Collen McGee | Doc Jargon, cutting through the jargon that is the U.S. Army.  

FORT RILEY, KS, UNITED STATES

08.16.2023

Story by Collen McGee 

Fort Riley Public Affairs Office

Dear Doc Jargon,

My command has been helping me with an application to become an officer. The other day my commander said that the process is so full of red tape that just getting the thing done should earn the applicant extra college credits.

I know she means bureaucratic administrative process when she says “red tape” and I’m curious as to how red tape came to be associated with paperwork and the administrative details of government work.

Can you cut through and explain it?

Sincerely,
Taped out

Dear Taped Out,

I totally agree with your commander. Getting through all that process should net the applicant a couple of college credits each time. The process of some applications is definitely a learning opportunity.
I did a little research and like most idioms, the term started out with one meaning and has morphed through time and use to take on more than originally intended. Government documents and records were once stored in folders that were secured with red twill tape. To gain access to the document, workers had to “cut through the red tape.”

Getting permission to do that was another process.

Eventually, dealing with any government task that had a long or difficult to follow process became “bureaucratic red tape.” Getting straight to the heart of the task became the “cutting through” part of the saying.

So, the phrase, cutting through the red tape, has morphed to mean getting to the heart of the issue.

I hope that cut through the red tape on the topic for you. Good luck on your application process.

Sincerely,
Doc Jargon

• Date Taken: 08.16.2023
• Date Posted: 08.16.2023 09:49
• Story ID: 451448
• Location: FORT RILEY, KS, US