the.com/powers that be
The people in charge, named with just enough sarcasm to survive them.
means The people or authorities who actually hold decision-making power, especially when invoked as a vague, unaccountable force.
from Lifted from the Bible — Romans 13:1 in the Tyndale and King James translations reads 'the powers that be are ordained of God,' using 'be' in an old subjunctive sense meaning 'that exist.' The phrase escaped scripture into everyday English as a ready-made shrug for naming authority without naming names.
- origin
- Phrase appears in the 1611 King James Bible
- usage trick
- Lets you blame authority without naming anyone
- grammar oddity
- Subjunctive be, fossilized from Old English
- modern meaning
- Whoever approves your request, slowly