shilly-shally

[ shil-ee-shal-ee ]

/ ˈʃɪl iˌʃæl i /

to show indecision or hesitation; be irresolute; vacillate.

to waste time; dawdle.

irresolution; indecision; vacillation: It was sheer shilly-shally on his part.

irresolute; undecided; vacillating.

irresolutely.

Origin of shilly-shally

1690–1700; orig. repeated question, shall I? shall I? later altered on the model of its synonym dilly-dally

shil·ly-shal·li·er, noun

shillelagh, shilling, shilling mark, shillong, shilluk, shilly-shally, shillyshally, shiloh, shilpit, shily, shim

She was not a woman weakly to accommodate herself to shilly-shally proceedings.

George Eliot |Mathilde Blind
Descend, sir, from your shilly-shally generalities and verbal fallacies.

Diary from November 12, 1862, to October 18, 1863 |Adam Gurowski
Which, by the way, amounts to an admission that he does shilly-shally sometimes.

The Humour of Homer and Other Essays |Samuel Butler
The Kaiser, instead of taking strong measures at once, pursued his usual policy of shilly-shally.

The Story of Nuremberg |Cecil Headlam

Your Uncle William used to make fun of me and sing 'Shilly-shally with the wee girls, ha, ha, ha!'

The Foolish Lovers |St. John G. Ervine