What Does Pushing a Rope Mean?

To push rope refers to a difficult and frustrating task that is either completely fruitless or the results of which are not commensurate with the effort invested. I suppose it is analogous to swimming upstream and the like. Example: Trying to get the building permit from the city hall is like pushing a rope.

What does pushing rope uphill mean?

It may be either a BE form of an idiom, or a distorted combination of two idioms: to push rocks uphill +to piss up a rope. The sense is to try to do something impossible, or to make a futile effort.

What does you cant push a rope mean?

Bill Cosgrove, likes to say, “You can't push a rope.” When I hear that, I picture some drunk trying to do just that. ... Ropes are for pulling, not pushing. Without pulleys that can change direction, to pull obligates a person to be in front. We pull people toward us. We can't push them.