| 释义 |
hallRelated to hall: Hall of Fame (you) can't fight city hallYou cannot defeat or prevail over a bureaucratic system or its rules. You might as well pay those parking tickets now because you'll never win in court. You can't fight city hall, after all. See also: city, fight, hall go fight city hallOne cannot defeat or prevail over a bureaucratic system or its rules (despite the connotation of the phrase as an encouragement of action). Good luck fighting those parking tickets—you might as well go fight city hall! See also: city, fight, go, hall Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. (You) can't fight city hall.Fig. There is no way to win in a battle against a bureaucracy. Bill: I guess I'll go ahead and pay the tax bill. Bob: Might as well. You can't fight city hall. Mary: How did things go at your meeting with the zoning board? Sally: I gave up. Can't fight city hall. See also: city, fight, hall McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. can't fight City HallUnable to overcome bureaucratic rules, as in Brad couldn't get a permit without going through channels-you can't fight City Hall! This term transfers the seat of city government to a more general sense of bureaucracy in any sphere. [Mid-1800s] See also: city, fight, hall The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. You can’t fight city hall sent. You cannot fight a bureaucracy. You can’t fight city hall. Pay the parking ticket and forget it. See also: city, fight, hall McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions can't fight City Hall, one/you/theyAn ordinary person cannot overcome bureaucracy. The term is American in origin, for it is mainly in the United States that the seat of a city government is called City Hall (and has been since the late seventeenth century). The idea of combating the city bureaucracy is believed to date from the nineteenth century, when Tammany Hall was a powerful political machine that controlled the New York Democratic Party and, in effect, the city government. See also: city, fight, one you can't fight City HallSee can't fight city hall. See also: city, fight, hall The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer go fight city hallThe futility of challenging entrenched politicians or establishment. Although sounding like a call to action, the phrase means that any effort to succeed against bureaucracy is doomed to failure. It was popularized, although not coined, in the book Go Fight City Hall by Ethel Rosenberg, who with her husband Julius was later executed after being convicted of spying for Russia. See also: city, fight, go, hall Endangered Phrases by Steven D. Price See also:- (you) can't fight city hall
- can't fight City Hall
- You can’t fight city hall
- you can't fight City Hall
- go fight city hall
- city
- win out
- make (one) pay through the nose
- win out over (someone or something)
- red tape
References in classic literature The evening passed in song and laughter, and when darkness fell the Danes lay down to rest in the hall as of old. English Literature For Boys And Girls "Jim Hall," said Judge Scott, and father and son looked significantly at each other. White Fang They looked to O-Tar; but he could only gaze helplessly about him as the enemy entered from The Hall of Chiefs and circled the throne room until they had surrounded the entire company. The Chessmen of Mars "Now, listen; I'm going to teach you something," Hall commanded, a large round rock poised in his hand above the abalone meat. The Valley of the Moon I fear that we shall never again be easy in our minds at Baskerville Hall." The Hound of the Baskervilles So easily and smoothly had Dempsey and the board done their preliminary work that many in the hall had not noticed the checking of the fascinating O'Sullivan's social triumph. The Four Million The old Palais would be standing still, with its ancient grand hall; I should be able to say to the reader, "Go and look at it," and we should thus both escape the necessity,--I of making, and he of reading, a description of it, such as it is. Notre Dame de Paris They passed through the hall and the small oak parlour, on the table of which stood the three tumblers and the empty rum-bottle which had served for Sir Pitt's carouse, and through that apartment into Sir Pitt's study, where they found Miss Horrocks, of the guilty ribbons, with a wild air, trying at the presses and escritoires with a bunch of keys. Vanity Fair "It is out of my power to send you to Redwood Hall at once," she resumed. I Say No Pearl accordingly ran to the bow-window, at the further end of the hall, and looked along the vista of a garden walk, carpeted with closely-shaven grass, and bordered with some rude and immature attempt at shrubbery. Scarlet Letter As we entered the hall the hum of subdued conversation ceased until as we halted upon the platform, or Throne of Righteousness, the silence of death enveloped the ten thousand spectators. The Gods of Mars If he will adopt these regulations, in seven years he will be clear; and I hope we may be able to convince him and Elizabeth, that Kellynch Hall has a respectability in itself which cannot be affected by these reductions; and that the true dignity of Sir Walter Elliot will be very far from lessened in the eyes of sensible people, by acting like a man of principle. Persuasion They took each other by the hand, and wandered forth out of the large hall; they talked of their old grandmother, and of the roses upon the roof; and wherever they went, the winds ceased raging, and the sun burst forth. Andersens Fairy Tales In a hall, the height of which was greatly disproportioned to its extreme length and width, a long oaken table, formed of planks rough-hewn from the forest, and which had scarcely received any polish, stood ready prepared for the evening meal of Cedric the Saxon. Ivanhoe Braithwaite that I was dining at the hall. She was busy cooking, and I felt prepared for her unpleasant expression; but she showed no annoyance at my news. Dead Men Tell No Tales |