will-they-won't-they

Definitions

1. 1

   Of or pertaining to a potential coupling between two people who share romantic chemistry,…

   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.

   • 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'.
2. 2

   Of or pertaining to any situation in which there is an extended period of uncertainty.

   • 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.

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