put the genie back in the bottle



put the genie back in the bottle

To attempt to revert a situation to how it formerly existed by containing, limiting, or repressing information, ideas, advancements, etc., that have become commonplace or public knowledge. Almost always used in the negative to denote the impossibility of such an attempt. Many people lament the ubiquity and pervasive nature of social media, but no one will be able to put that particular genie back in the bottle.
See also: back, bottle, genie, put

Common Names:

NameGenderPronouncedUsage
ÖZtÜRk-Turkish
NienkeNEEN-kəFrisian
Muireadhach-Irish, Scottish
Tural-Azerbaijani
Abdul-Arabic, Urdu, Punjabi, Pashto, Bengali, Indonesian, Malay
DrewDROOEnglish