drive a coach and horses through
drive a coach and horses through
make something entirely useless or ineffective – British
An early example of this idiom is found in this statement by the Irish lawyer Stephen Rice (1637-1715) : I will drive a coach and six horses through the Act of Settlement. Early versions of the phrase also refer to a space big enough to turn a coach and six (or four) (i.e. horses) in, but the context, following Rice's declaration, is very often that of rendering a law or regulation ineffective.
1997 - Spectator - A coach and horses was driven through one of the guiding principles of American statecraft.
drive a coach and horses through :
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