Hurry up and wait

Expression, maybe from US military culture

"Hurry up and wait" is a phrase used to refer to the situation in which one is forced to hurry in order to complete a certain task, or arrive at a certain destination, by a specified time; only for nothing to happen at that time, often because other required tasks are still awaiting completion. The phrase may have originated in the United States military in the 1940s.[1] Many U.S. military veterans, in particular, consider this phrase to be synonymous with military culture.

See also

  • Project management
  • Parkinson's law – in other contexts, work expands to fill the time available

References

  1. ^ "Hurry Up and Wait", The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Houghton Mifflin Company.


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