Who coined the term 'hurry up and wait'?

[alehm]

I think I will build a time machine just to go back to when he first said it and say "Why don't I just hurry up and kick your butt instead?"

Then I will do a chino chop and whaaaa whaaaa!!! HEEEYYY YEEEAAAWWWW!! Jackie chan that f00.

 

[Dedalus]

first time i've heard it. sounds like a dumb thing to say anyway. i can understand if there's a line for something and you're telling someone to 'hurry up and wait in line', but aside from that, sounds pretty useless.

don't expend any cranium fuel on it mate.

 

[Neutrino]

If I had to guess, I say it originated in the military, as it seems to be usually used to refer to military training situations. But I really don't know.

I don't think it's really dumb. It actually holds quite a bit of accuracy for some circumstances.

 

[Farrowlesparrow]

Yeah...but there are lots of little things like that in the English language.

"may or may not be..." That really doesn't mean much at all unless you fill it out into a sentence. Perhaps Hurry up and wait is the same. Its just the shortening of a sentence that has become its own phrase over time.

 

[Xtasy0]

stupid.****ing.thread

 

[Neutrino]

Yeah...but there are lots of little things like that in the English language.

"may or may not be..." That really doesn't mean much at all unless you fill it out into a sentence. Perhaps Hurry up and wait is the same. Its just the shortening of a sentence that has become its own phrase over time.

I don't think it's really similar to those cases. I think it started out as a humorous expression to refer to the fact that in large organizations one often made to hurry through something, only to have to wait later on.

 

[Axyon]

I've never heard that phrase, either... probably because it's so stupid no-one says it much.

 

[Neutrino]

I've never heard that phrase, either... probably because it's so stupid no-one says it much.

I feel silly defending a phrase, but it's not stupid. It applies to a lot of real world situations. As I said before, I believe it specifically alludes to being in the military. Consider a situation where you work 16 hours a day for a week preparing for a mission. Then the mission is delayed due to some reason beyond your control and you end up sitting at base for another week. Thus in such a case the expression: "hurry up and wait" is quite applicable.

It's meant to be ironic.

 

[Axyon]

I feel silly defending a phrase, but it's not stupid. It applies to a lot of real world situations. As I said before, I believe it specifically alludes to being in the military. Consider a situation where you work 16 hours a day for a week preparing for a mission. Then the mission is delayed due to some reason beyond your control and you end up sitting at base for another week. Thus in such a case the expression: "hurry up and wait" is quite applicable.

It's meant to be ironic.

Do you see it being used in every day life? No. Say I was waiting at an an airport for 10 hours just to book the luxury seats, then found out that the flight would be delayed another 10 hours. I wouldn't go "Hurry up and wait! hahahmesofunny!1" and look like some kind of idiot. I'd just kick up some kind of fuss.

It's not useful, it's stupid.

 

[Godcat_V2]

Plus, the Stereophonics made a song out of the phrase.
Quite a catchy one too!

 

[Neutrino]

Do you see it being used in every day life? No. Say I was waiting at an an airport for 10 hours just to book the luxury seats, then found out that the flight would be delayed another 10 hours. I wouldn't go "Hurry up and wait! hahahmesofunny!1" and look like some kind of idiot. I'd just kick up some kind of fuss.

It's not useful, it's stupid.

It's not meant to be useful. It's meant to describe situations beyond your control. You hurry to achieve something and then end up having to wait because of circumstances beyond your control.

And yes, I'm really bored at the moment.

 

[Axyon]

It's not meant to be useful. It's meant to describe situations beyond your control. You hurry to achieve something and then end up having to wait because of circumstances beyond your control.

And yes, I'm really bored at the moment.

Well go ahead and use it all you like, still doesn't surprise me that I'd never heard of it before.

 

[A2597]

it gets used all the time, and makes sence. Such as being in a rush to make it to the airport in time to pick someone up, only to learn it's delayed 45 minutes.

"Hurry up and wait" see?

 

[Dedalus]

seriously. i can't for the life of me work out what the hell that phrase is meant for. i can understand that it's an oxymoron/juxtaposition and all, but please just give me a real sentence where you've used that.

now, if i had to wait an hour or so for something, i'd say 'oh well' and head for the bar. i would not stand there like a lemon chanting 'hurry up and wait'. sounds like something a 12 year old with limited knowledge of grammatical accuracy and consistency dreamt up.

 

[mortiz]

I'll use it in a sentence:

In theme with being late for a flight:
"GOD DAMN IT!1111oneelevenonethousandonehundredandeleven!! I MISSED MY £$""!£^ FLIGHT!. TALK ABOUT A CASE OF 'HURRY UP AND WAIT' !!!"

see, works perfectly.

 

[Neutrino]

I don't think it's meant to be said really. It's just an expression that describes something. You mostly hear it in books. For example, "After 8 hours of hard labor the soldiers finally finished digging the bunker, only to have to wait around for another two hours for supplies to come in. It was another example of the 'hurry up and wait' policy of the military."

 

[Axyon]

I'll use it in a sentence:

In theme with being late for a flight:
GOD DAMN IT!1111oneelevenonethousandonehundredandeleven!! I MISSED MY £$""!£^ FLIGHT!. TALK ABOUT A CASE OF 'HURRY UP AND WAIT' !!!"

see, works perfectly.

"Would you please leave the airport, sir. Thankyou."

 

[DarkStar]

It sounds like something Yogi Berra might have said.

 

[Fat Tony!]

never seen so much crap