🗓️ Idiom: A Dilly-Dallier (noun)
💬 Meaning
- A person who wastes time or delays making decisions.
- Someone who is slow to act or always puts things off.
🧠 Example Sentences
- Stop being a dilly-dallier and send that proposal before the deadline.
- Our team lost the client because the project manager was a bit of a dilly-dallier.
- In business, there’s no time for dilly-dalliers when quick action is needed.
🏛️ Origin
The term “dilly-dallier” comes from the phrase “dilly-dally,” which appeared in English in the 1700s. It likely comes from the older word “dally,” meaning to waste time or act playfully. It is a way to describe hesitation or delay, and “a dilly-dallier” came to mean someone who avoids doing important things.
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
If you keep being a __________, we’ll miss the deadline.
Answer
dilly-dallier
2. Choose the correct option:
What does “a dilly-dallier” mean?
a) A person who works very quickly
b) Someone who takes too long to act
c) A manager who gives clear directions
Answer
b) Someone who takes too long to act
3. Change the sentence using “a dilly-dallier”:
“He always delays making decisions and wastes time in meetings.”
Answer
He’s such a dilly-dallier in meetings.
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