hem and haw
Avoid direct answers
To hem and haw is to speak hesitatingly, avoiding a direct answer or decision: When I asked if she'd be there, he hemmed and hawed.
The phrase combines two sounds of hesitation—the throat-clearing "hem" and the drawn-out "haw"—to suggest someone stalling, equivocating, or reluctant to commit.
Pause in uncertainty
- waverHesitate or fluctuate
- vacillateWaver between choices
- ditherNervous inability to choose
- falterLose momentum or steadiness
stammer · stutter · pause · delay · procrastinate · flounder · fumble · stumble
hesitate
Pause in uncertainty
falter · stammer · stutter · pause · delay · procrastinate · flounder · fumble · stumble · balk
equivocate
Speak vaguely to mislead
- prevaricateSpeak misleadingly to deceive
- beat around the bushAvoid stating directly
- sidestepEvade by moving aside
evade · waffle · fudge · dodge · stall · deflect · hedge · skirt · quibble · weasel
- evasionevasion, avoiding, avoids, evade, dodging
- Sewing Metaphorsseamless, threadbare, woven, patched up, hanging by a thread
- stallingstall, stalling, delay, hesitate, procrastinate
hem and hawdecide
Reach a conclusion
commit · take a stand · make up one's mind · take the plunge · choose
hem and hawspeak plainly
speak one's mind · get to the point · cut to the chase · lay it on the line · tell it like it is