Parkinson's law

Từ điển Oxford Advanced Learner 8th

ˈParkinson's law f10 BrE NAmE noun uncountable (humorous)
the idea that work will always take as long as the time available for it

Word Origin:
[Parkinson's law] 1950s: named after Cyril Northcote Parkinson (1909–93), English writer.

Culture:
People often mention Parkinson’s law when talking humorously about bureaucracy (= a system of official rules and ways of doing things which seem too complicated). The historian Cyril Northcote Parkinson (1909–1993) first wrote about the idea in his book about the British Civil Service, Parkinson’s Law: The Pursuit of Progress (1957).
Compare Murphy's law
.