Idiom
hem and haw
Meaning
To discuss, deliberate, or contemplate rather than taking action or making up one's mind.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“Stop hemming and hawing and just make a decision.”
“When the boss asked for a clear answer, the manager just hemmed and hawed for ten minutes.”
“Rather than committing to the new strategy, the board members hemmed and hawed, clearly hoping to avoid the responsibility of a difficult choice.”
Examples
simple
“Stop hemming and hawing and just make a decision.”
contextual
“When the boss asked for a clear answer, the manager just hemmed and hawed for ten minutes.”
complex
“Rather than committing to the new strategy, the board members hemmed and hawed, clearly hoping to avoid the responsibility of a difficult choice.”
Origin
From *hem* + *and* + *haw*, imitative of the sounds made when clearing the throat or hesitating in speech.
Key words
Related idioms
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