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Middlemarch vocabulary
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shilly-shally
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► definition
Definition:to be indecisive or irresolute; to act willy-nilly
► uses
Uses:
Blackadder: Yes, but how many sets of legs has that man got? Really, I wish he'd make up his mind— either he dies, or he lives forever! It's his shilly-shallying that's so undignified.
BBC. Blackadder, season 1: The Archbishop
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The next day, Medary Cole crowed at Doremus, “Sometimes I’ve felt like criticizing certain features of Corpo policy, but did you see what the Chief did to the gangsters and racketeers? Wonderful! I’ve told you right along what this country’s needed is a firm hand like Windrip’s. No shilly-shallying about that fellow! He saw that the way to stop crime was to just go out and stop it!”
Sinclair Lewis. It Can't Happen Here
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LADY BRACKNELL. Well, I must say, Algernon, that I think it is high time that Mr. Bunbury made up his mind whether he was going to live or to die. This shilly-shallying with the question is absurd. Nor do I in any way approve of the modern sympathy with invalids. I consider it morbid. Illness of any kind is hardly a thing to be encouraged in others. Health is the primary duty of life.
Oscar Wilde. The Importance of Being Earnest (1895)
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