slowly
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make haste
To move, speak, or act quickly, especially when one was being too slow before. Often said as a command. We'll need to make haste if we're going to catch that train! Make haste, Jonathan, I need that report ASAP!
make haste slowly
To act with due diligence, focus, and attention to detail in order to avoid mistakes and finish a task more expeditiously overall. I know we're all eager to get the new software released to the public, but we must make haste slowly. We don't want to end up wasting time fixing bugs that shouldn't be there in the first place.
mills of the gods grind slowly(, but they grind exceedingly fine)
Destiny will deliver an outcome that is correct, just, and inevitable, though it may take a long time to come to be. It was a disheartening verdict, to be sure, but we aren't losing hope for a successful outcome eventually. The mills of the gods grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly fine. Mills of the gods grind slowly, and we've been making slow but steady progress in this country over the last three decades, but it seems lately that those mills have sputtered to a halt.
slow but sure
Slow or incremental but yielding steady, dependable progress. It's going to be slow but sure writing my thesis, as I have to balance my part-time job with my research. A: "Hey, how's the new novel coming along?" B: "It's been slow but sure."
slowly but surely
At a slow or incremental pace but making steady, dependable progress. I've been writing my thesis slowly but surely—it will probably take me all year to finish it, but it's getting there! A: "Hey, how's the new novel coming along?" B: "Ah, slowly but surely!"
the mills of God grind slowly(, but they grind exceedingly fine)
Destiny will deliver an outcome that is correct, just, and inevitable, though it may take a long time to come to be. It was a disheartening verdict, to be sure, but we aren't losing hope for a successful outcome eventually. The mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly fine. The mills of God grind slowly, and we've been making slow but steady progress in this country over the last three decades, but it seems like those mills have sputtered to a halt lately.
twist in the wind
To have been left in a very difficult, troublesome, or problematic situation, often to receive punishment or blame. "Slowly" can be added between "twist" and "in" for further emphasis. You really left us twisting in the wind when you decided to take your vacation right before the project's deadline! The government's sudden decision not to continue funding the program has left many residents twisting slowly in the wind.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
Make haste slowly,
and More haste, less speed.Prov. Act quickly, but not so quickly that you make careless mistakes. Jane: Why are you throwing your clothes around the room? Alan: You told me to get my things packed in a hurry. Jane: Yes, but make haste slowly; otherwise we'll have to spend an hour cleaning up the mess you make. I know you want to finish that sweater by Joe's birthday, but you're knitting so fast that you make mistakes. More haste, less speed.
mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small
Prov. It may take a long time, but evil will always be punished. Jill: It really doesn't seem right that Fred can be so horrible and dishonest, but he always gets everything he wants. Jane: Be patient. The mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small.
slow but sure
and slowly but surelyslow but unstoppable. Bob's progress on his novel was slow but sure. Nancy is finishing the paint job on her house, slowly but surely.
twist(slowly) in the wind
Fig. to suffer the agony of some humiliation or punishment. (Alludes to an execution by hanging.) I'll seeyou twist in the wind for trying to frustrate this investigation. The prosecutor was determined that Richard would twist slowly in the wind for the crime.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
make haste
Also, make it snappy. Hurry up, move or act quickly, as in If you don't make haste we'll be late, or Make it snappy, kids. The first expression was first recorded in Miles Coverdale's 1535 translation of the Bible (Psalms 39:13): "Make haste, O Lord, to help me." The variant dates from the early 1900s and uses snappy in the sense of "resembling a sudden jerk." The oxymoron make haste slowly, dating from the mid-1700s, is a translation of the Latin festina lente. It is used either ironically, to slow someone down (as in You'll do better if you make haste slowly), or to comment sarcastically on a lack of progress (as in So far the committee has been making haste slowly).
mills of the gods grind slowly
One's destiny is inevitable even if it takes considerable time to arrive. For example, I'm sure he'll be wealthy one day, though the mills of the gods grind slowly. This expression comes from ancient Greek, translated as "The mills of the gods grind slowly, but they grind small." In English it appeared in George Herbert's Jacula Prudentum (1640) as "God's mill grinds slow but sure."
slow but sure
Gradual or plodding but certain to finish, as in Slow but sure this book's getting written. This idiom was first recorded in 1562, although the idea is much older. A related phrase appears in the proverb slow and steady wins the race, which is the moral of Aesop's fable about the race between a tortoise and a hare, which stopped to nap during the race and therefore lost.
twist in the wind
Be abandoned to a bad situation, especially be left to incur blame, as in The governor denied knowing it was illegal and left his aide to twist in the wind. It is also put as leave twisting in the wind, meaning "abandon or strand in a difficult situation," as in Sensing a public relations disaster, the President left the Vice-President twisting in the wind . This expression, at first applied to a President's nominees who faced opposition and were abandoned by the President, alludes to the corpse of a hanged man left dangling and twisting in the open air. [Slang; early 1970s] Also see out on a limb.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
twist in the wind
orswing in the wind
If someone twists in the wind or swings in the wind, they are in a difficult situation that they cannot control for a long period, usually because of something that someone else has done. The court case that had been planned to start in April 2004 was abandoned, leaving the parents concerned twisting in the wind. Note: You can also say that someone swings in the wind. Critics accused the Prime Minister of leaving the minister swinging in the wind and insist that he should back him or sack him. Note: Other verbs such as hang or turn are sometimes used instead of twist and swing. `I didn't want to leave them hanging in the wind,' Johnson said of his team-mates.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
slow but (or and) sure
not quick but achieving the required result eventually. proverbtwist in the wind
be left in a state of suspense or uncertainty.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
ˌeasy/ˌgently/ˌslowly ˈdoes it
(informal) used for telling somebody to be careful, calm, etc: Easy does it! Just lift it a little bit and I think it’ll go through the door.slowly but ˈsurely
used for describing definite but slow progress in something: Attitudes to women at work are changing slowly but surely.ˈtwist in the wind
(especially American English) be in a bad, difficult or uncertain situation particularly one in which you receive the blame for something: When the scandal broke, his business partners left him to twist in the wind. ♢ The government left people twisting in the wind (= not sure what would happen to them).Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
twist (slowly) in the wind
in. to suffer the agony of some punishment, powerless to do anything about it, as if one had been hanged. (Figurative only.) I’ll see you twist in the wind for trying to frustrate this investigation.
twist in the wind
verbMcGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
make haste
To move or act swiftly; hurry.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
mills of the gods grind slowly, the
One’s destiny or one’s deserved fate may not come fast, but it will arrive eventually. The earliest instance of this expression is attributed to the third-century Greek philosopher Sextus Empiricus, who was quoting another poet when he said, “The mills of the gods grind slowly, but they grind small.” Later it was put as, “God’s mill grinds slow but sure” (George Herbert, Jacula Prudentum, 1640), and still later Longfellow, translating a German poet, said they “grind exceeding small.”
slow but sure
Plodding but reliable. This proverbial term dates from the early seventeenth century, and the idea is as old as Aesop’s fable about the tortoise and the hare. “This snail’s slow but sure,” wrote John Marston in his 1606 play The Fawn (3:1).
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer