hum and haw
(British, idiomatic) To procrastinate; to take a long time before doing something or taking a decision.
Definitions
(British, idiomatic) To procrastinate; to take a long time before doing something or taking a decision.
We hummed and hawed before finally deciding to buy this house.
“How you can tell John Darnielle is a goth: if you ask him directly if he is/was a goth, he'll hum and haw and quibble about definitions, but if you ask him what color lipstick he looks good in, he has an answer immediately.”
— Bluesky· May 2026
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🇬🇧About British & Irish slang slang
UK and Irish slang — Cockney, Scouse, Geordie, Yorkshire, Glaswegian, Brummie, Welsh, West Country, plus Irish English. Centuries of regional dialects feeding into modern British and Irish street talk.
See all British & Irish slang slang on Slangora.
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Semantically related
- hem and haw85%
To mumble and procrastinate in one's speech, especially with a reply to a hard question or with voicing a decision on a topical matter; to evade a question, giving vague answers; to equivocate or temporize.
- hem and haw84%
(idiomatic, US) To discuss, deliberate, or contemplate rather than taking action or making up one's mind.
- gee and haw63%
(slang, US, southeast) get along.
- ho-hum63%
(dated, US, Canada) Used to express boredom, uninterest or lack of novelty.
- hack about62%
(UK, colloquial, intransitive) To be idle; to waste time; to socialize.