can't fight City Hall

(you) can't fight city hall

You 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

(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

can't fight City Hall

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]
See also: city, fight, hall
References in periodicals archive ?
You can't fight City Hall, even if everyone around you in your formative years always said 'smelt' rather than 'smelled'.
Saturday Summer Re-run: Ten Rules for Translating from Humphrey Davies and Jonathan Wright
You can't fight city hall, so aviation maintainers have to get creative in order to keep airplanes flying.
Coping mechanisms for D.C. dysfunction
A case before a California appellate courthas the potential to put some teeth behind the old saying "You can't fight City Hall.
Fighting the good fight: ruling against small-town publisher carries broad ramifications for freedom of the press
There's an old saying that you can't fight City Hall.
Fighting City Hall
It's been said you can't fight city hall, but can you fight the Band office?
On being dispossessed, and planning a move
In this case you can't fight city hall or the FDA and the repercussions are more severe than a simple red card.
You can't fight City Hall
It's cases like a Valley Village condominium project last week that illustrate the saying "You can't fight City Hall.
TIPOFF DEVELOPER'S $20,000 LESSON: YOU CAN'T FIGHT CITY HALL
School newspapers since Hazelwood have probably assumed that they can't fight city hall, that school districts have almost unfettered license to censor them," says Ken Myers, the students' lawyer.
The case they've waited for? (High School Journalism)
Don't tell James Winters you can't fight City Hall.
Winters' storm
The opposition to thoughtless development may be stronger now, but in the absence of much historical evidence from Professor Logan, one is left with the old saw--"You can't fight city hall.
Fighting sprawl and city hall: resistance to urban growth in the Southwest
They say you can't fight City Hall - but you sure as hell can pooh on the steps and run away.
Don't take the p*** out of refs.. take the pea out of their whistles; Arrogant pen-pushers are spoiling the game
When people tell me they can't fight city hall, I tell them that's hogwash," says Coterill.
Worried mom cleans up
Well, if you think you can't fight City Hall, try the school administration, whose "Club Med mentality.
Reform school confidential; what we can learn for three of America's boldest school reforms
The judge's decision on Measure R's term-limit deceit shows you really can't fight City Hall.
EDITORIAL WEEK IN REVIEW
You find it down on the streets - in the homes and apartments of thousands of average Joes and Janes in Neighborhood Watch groups who wouldn't buy into this notion that you can't fight City Hall and win.
HOW TO FIGHT CITY HALL - AND WIN
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