can't fight City Hall

1. Unable 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]

Example Sentences

You can undoubtedly imagine some of the responses: "You can't fight City Hall!"

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The saying “You can’t fight City Hall” captures the immovable nature of government bureaucracy.

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“You can’t fight City Hall,” O’Malley said, but Rising proved his mettle to the team owner in the failed campaign.

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As an old saying goes, you can't fight city hall, meaning government.

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Casting a skeptical eye on the possibility of democratic reforms in China, “Lost Course” makes for a bleak illustration of the adage that you can’t fight city hall — or in this case, a village committee, if the committee is part of a much larger system.

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