Meaning of will-they-won't-they | Babel Free

Definitions

1. Of or pertaining to a potential coupling between two people who share romantic chemistry, but whose relationship is threatened by uncertainty, external obstacles or internal strife.
   not-comparable
2. Of or pertaining to any situation in which there is an extended period of uncertainty.
   broadly, not-comparable

Examples

“Princess Sonja, the daughter of an Oslo fashion house director, married Crown Prince Harald last summer after a will-they-won't-they romance that had gone on for a decade.”

“Duet is a "will-they-won't-they?" sit-com about a young couple best described as in the throes of 'courting'.”

“Woolworths had already started manufacturing wedding memorabilia, including William and Kate china, ahead of an announcement; the press toyed with the will-they-won't-they question; and the couple kept a chart of newspaper speculations on the royal wedding”

“Ôba's three-part What is Your Name? (Kimi no na wa, 1953—1954), a will-they-won't-they romantic drama in which a couple meet on a bridge during a wartime air raid and fall in love, promising that they will meet again although unfortunately neglecting to tell each other their names, was the most commercially successful film of the early 1950s.”

“Tim and Dawn, being a will-they-won't-they pair, both lose (until they get together at the end).”

“Among the small producers, the West German companies Continental Gummi and Phoenix Gummi are in the middle of a will-they-won't-they merger dance.”

“Not only physically did Greenpeace alter the situation—but perhaps more important, it gave the issue a cup-tie atmosphere which it may not otherwise have had, and there was the constant will-they-won't- they.”

“The reality behind the will-they-won't-they, pre-nuptial dances among aspirant members of Europe's monetary union club is that as long as the present economic slowdown doesn't turn into a full-blown recession the project will probably go ahead.”

CEFR level