SHILLY-SHALLYING

In “Goodnight Mister Tom” (Michelle Magorian), Mister Tom loses his patience with a maddening doctor and tells him to “stop shilly-shallying and tell me about the boy.”

 (First published in 1981, the story of the elderly Mister Tom and Willie, the evacuee who came to stay with him, won many awards and was made into a play, a musical and a TV drama.)


 The term “shilly-shallying” means to act indecisively. It’s believed to originate from a tendency for indecisive people to repeatedly ask “shall I?” when trying to make a decision [1].

 Examples:

 “The second terminal in Montijo is ‘very important for the country’, and shilly-shallying is delaying progress . . .”

 “Still, that’s not to say that a loo seat will beat time-wasting, shilly-shallying and general unnecessary lingering.”

 “But the shilly-shallying over HS2 has even bigger implications, both for the Midlands and the north, as well as for international confidence in a post-Brexit Britain.”


 Photo credit: Gustavo H. Braga (Creative Commons)

 [1] Cresswell, Julia. “shilly-shally” in The Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins. Oxford University Press, 2009.

GO OVERBOARD

To “go overboard” is an idiom meaning to do something to excess.

 Examples:

 “You don’t have to go overboard and blow your budget on overpriced roses.”

 “A midnight snack is one of life’s great joys, but don’t go overboard.”

 “Don’t go overboard with your posts and include too much irrelevant information.”


 As well as being used as an idiom, this phrase can be used literally to mean that something or someone has fallen off a ship into the water.

 “The World Shipping Council estimates that of the 218 million containers transported annually, just over 1,000 go overboard.”


 Photo credit: Gordon McKinlay (Creative Commons)

SHAM

A “sham” is something that is not what it is claimed to be. This word is normally used to convey disapproval.

 Examples:

 “An Ontario couple discovered their $3,000 vacation was a sham the day before they were supposed to fly out - and they’re blaming the airline company for not alerting them sooner.”

 “The two are accused of enrolling hundreds of people to their sham digital crypto currency scheme.”

 “These sham holiday lets are depriving Londoners of homes and worsening the housing crisis.”


 Photo credit: Valtor (Creative Commons)