English · Idiom Historical

Shilly Shally

Preserved but no longer current.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

To hesitate, act in an undecided, irresolute way; a corruption of "Will I, shall I," or "Shall I, shall I?

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Ngập ngừng, hành động không quyết đoán

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)

Sources & notes

Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.

Topics: Historical slang (1800s)

Common questions

What does “Shilly Shally” mean?

To hesitate, act in an undecided, irresolute way; a corruption of "Will I, shall I," or "Shall I, shall I?

Is “Shilly Shally” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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