yea-and-nayn.adj.

Brit.

/ˌjeɪən(d)ˈneɪ/, U.S.

/ˌjeɪənˈneɪ/

Forms: see yea adv. and n. and and conj.¹, adv., and n.¹ and nay adv.¹ and n.

Origin: Formed within English, by compounding. Etymons: yea adv., and conj.¹, nay adv.¹

Etymology: < yea adv. + and conj.¹ + nay adv.¹In some early examples translating pairs of positive and negative verb forms or phrases in post-classical Latin (used in place of ‘yes’ and ‘no’), implying that the English phrase already had independent currency. In sense A. 3 after Occitan Oc-e-No, lit. ‘yes and no’, a nickname given to Richard I by the troubadour Bertran de Born (d. c1215), e.g. in the passage translated in quot. 1910 at sense A. 3.

A. n.

1. Positive and negative statement (or command); affirmation and denial (or injunction and prohibition). Also: alternate affirmation and denial; vacillation.

ΘΠ

the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > [noun]

yea-and-nayc1384

vacillationc1400

titteringa1413

stackeringc1440

wondingc1440

fluctuationc1450

waver1519

mammering1532

uncertainty1548

wavering1548

to and fro1553

suspense1560

staggering1565

suspension1568

mammery1578

demur1581

branle1591

dilly-dally1592

hesitance1601

irresolution1601

uncertainness1601

undecision1611

waveringness1614

hesitancy1617

unsettledness1619

hesitation1622

unresolvednessa1626

doubleness of minda1628

wavinga1628

swagging1636

poise1637

mambling1640

stickagea1647

vacillancy1668

whifflinga1677

hovering1679

unresolve1679

irresoluteness1686

shilly-shally1755

indecisiona1763

undecisiveness1779

indecisiveness1793

oscillation1798

flexility1815

shilly-shallying1842

swaying1850

Hamletism1852

teeter1855

havering1866

off and on1875

dilly-dallying1879

double-mindedness1881

hesitatingness1890

dither1958

the mind > language > statement > affirmation and denial > [noun]

yea-and-nayc1384

c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 2 Cor. i. 17 Is and not, or ȝhe and nay [L. est et non].

a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1879) VII. 297 He folwede þe kynges wille and his ȝee and nay [L. velle et nolle] in al manere wise.

1526 Bible (Tyndale) 2 Cor. i. 18 Oure preachynge vnto you, was not ye and naye [Gk. τὸ Ναὶ ναὶ καὶ τὸ Οὒ οὔ].

1540 J. Palsgrave in tr. G. Gnapheus Comedye of Acolastus Declar. Names sig. b4 To flatter hym, and holde him vp with ye and nay.

1637 S. Rutherford Lett. (1863) I. cxxxviii. 330 With whom Scribes and Pharisees were at yea and nay and sharp contradiction.

1720 M. Prior Conversation 34 These two went on, With yea and nay, and pro and con.

1782 W. Mason Dean & 'Squire 3 Kings derive their lawful sway All from the people's yea and nay.

1828 S. T. Coleridge in Amulet 45 Then came a restless state, 'twixt yea and nay.

1886 J. Ruskin Præterita II. i. 27 There had been a good deal of dealers' yea and nay about it.

1908 F. L. Wellman Art of Cross-examination (new ed.) ix. 155 The plaintiff swore there was an agreement... The defendant swore no such conversation ever took place. Where was the truth? The direct yea and nay of this proposition occupied about five minutes of the court's time.

1988 ‘C. J. Cherryh’ Paladin x. 179 Jiro, confused by this yea and nay, threw his head and worked the bit.

†2. slang. (A nickname for) a Quaker. See sense B. 2. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > sect > Christianity > Protestantism > Quakerism > [noun] > person

meeter1646

shaker1648

Quaker1651

friend1656

yea-and-nay1685

trembler1689

Whaker1700

broad-brim1749

plain Friend1774

shad-belly1842

drabman1860

1685–8 Trappand Cuckold-maker (single sheet) He would not trust poor yea and nay.

1693 England's Merry Jester 154 Yea and Nay went to him, and demanded the reason, why he troubled him.

?1725 (title) Yea and Nay's answer, to the Quaker's dry-bottle.

?1785 Merry Jester 31 Well friend, says Yea and Nay, I have offered thee a meat-offering, a drink offering, and a burnt-offering.

1807 H. Corp Antidote Miseries Human Life 4 They were Yeas and Nays. ‘What's that?’ said I... ‘O quack, quack I suppose,’ said the squire.

3. historical. A name given to King Richard I of England (1157–99). Chiefly in Richard Yea-and-Nay.The motivation for the name is unclear.

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > sovereign ruler or monarch > king > [noun] > king of England > specific

Great Deliverer1695

yea-and-nay1900

1900 M. Hewlett (title) The life and death of Richard Yea-and-Nay.

1910 E. Pound tr. B. de Born in Spirit of Romance iii. 43 Papiols, be glad to go speedily to ‘Yea and Nay’ [Occitan Oc-e-No], and tell him there's too much peace about.

1911 C. R. L. Fletcher & R. Kipling School Hist. Eng. 70 ‘Richard Yea and Nay’, so called because he spoke the truth.

1964 N.Y. Times 4 Oct. (Book Review) vii. 40/5 When Denys decides to kill this Richard Yea-and-Nay..he finds himself not only unable to carry through his plot but ends up allowing himself to be taken captive.

B. adj.

a. Of indefinite or indeterminate character; changeable; ambiguous.

ΘΠ

the world > time > change > changeableness > [adjective]

slidinga900

wankleeOE

windyc1000

unsteadfastc1200

fleeting?c1225

loose?c1225

brotelc1315

unstablec1340

varyingc1340

variantc1374

motleyc1380

ungroundedc1380

muablea1393

passiblea1393

remuablea1393

changeablea1398

movablea1398

variablec1397

slidderya1400

ticklec1400

variantc1412

flitting1413

mutable?a1425

movingc1425

flaskisable1430

flickering1430

transmutablec1430

vertible1447

brittlea1450

ficklea1450

permutablec1450

unfirmc1450

uncertain1477

turnable1483

unsteadfast1483

vagrantc1522

inconstant1526

alterable?1531

stirringc1540

slippery1548

various1552

slid?1553

mutala1561

rolling1561

weathery1563

unconstant1568

interchangeable1574

fluctuant1575

stayless1575

transitive1575

voluble1575

changeling1577

queasy1579

desultory1581

huff-puff1582

unstaid1586

vagrant1586

changeful1590

floating1594

Protean1594

unstayed1594

swimming1596

anchorless1597

mobilec1600

ticklish1601

catching1603

labile1603

unrooted1604

quicksilvered1605

versatile1605

insubstantial1607

uncertain1609

brandling1611

rootless1611

squeasy1611

wind-changinga1616

insolid1618

ambulatory1625

versatilous1629

plastic1633

desultorious1637

unbottomed1641

fluid1642

fluent1648

yea-and-nay1648

versipellous1650

flexile1651

uncentred1652

variating1653

chequered1656

slideable1662

transchangeative1662

weathercock-like1663

flicketing1674

fluxa1677

lapsable1678

wanton1681

veering1684

upon the weathercock1702

contingent1703

unsettled?1726

fermentable1731

afloat1757

brickle1768

wavy1795

vagarious1798

unsettled1803

fitful1810

metamorphosical1811

undulating1815

tittupya1817

titubant1817

mutative1818

papier mâché1818

teetotum1819

vacillating1822

capricious1823

sensitive1828

quicksilvery1829

unengrafted1829

fluxionala1834

proteiform1833

liquid1835

tottlish1835

kaleidoscopic1846

versative1846

kaleidoscopical1858

tottery1861

choppy1865

variative1874

variational1879

wimbly-wambly1881

fluctuable1882

shifty1882

giveable1884

shifty1884

tippy1886

mutatory1890

upsettable1890

rocky1897

undulatory1897

streaky1898

tottly1905

tipply1906

up and down1907

inertialess1927

sometimey1946

rise-and-fall1950

switchable1961

the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > equivocal quality, ambiguity > [adjective]

double?c1225

uncertainc1384

equivoquea1450

amphibille?1450

ambiguousc1487

indifferent?1531

forked1551

amphibological1587

equivocal1601

double-meaning1605

left-handed1610

dilogical1616

two-edgeda1625

biviousa1644

equivocating1645

amphibolous1647

yea-and-nay1648

amphibolical1652

bifarious1656

double-handed1661

squibbling1674

ambigual1683

equivocous1701

ambiguea1734

double-edged1791

multivocala1834

grey1835

amphibolic1873

ambivalent1923

the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > insecure knowledge, uncertainty > [adjective] > of indeterminate character

neither fish nor flesh (nor good red herring)1528

ambiguous1603

yea-and-nay1648

yea and nayish1777

borderline1937

1648 T. Winyard Owle at Athens sig. A3^v Then gave a Bible, which his Lordship tooke; Yet told him he could sweare without a Booke; This Yea-and-Nay welcome made my Lord coy.

1843 Spiritual Mag. Apr. 90/1 If there be one thing in the people of God I dislike more than another it is fickleness of mind, and a sort of yea and nay friendship.

1886 A. E. Barr Bow of Orange Ribbon v. 62 You should hae made a' things plain and positive to Katherine. Such skimble-skamble, yea and nay kind o' ways willna do wi' women.

1908 Atlanta Constit. 9 May 8/4 There's only one performance of the yea-and-nay sort that equals Guyt's denial-admission of the conference.., and that is, Hoke's yea-and-nay statements concerning the use of ‘light wines and beer’.

1931 L. B. Wilder Adventures in Suburban Garden ii. 20 Japanese Anemones seem to be quite hardy where the winters are continuously cold, but where the climate is of a yea and nay character they often perish.

2009 Victorian Lit. & Culture 37 121 Rabelais's speech-acting nonsense poet Raminagrobis..also performs this kind of yea-and-nay mysticism.

b. Of a person: tending to affirm or deny indifferently or according to expediency; hesitating, vacillating, undecided. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > [adjective]

twiredec888

orrathc1175

twofoldc1175

twifoldc1200

waveringc1315

uncertain1382

suspensec1440

mammeringa1450

flowing?1504

floghtering1521

vacillant1521

in a mammering1532

double-minded1552

unstaid1561

unresolute1570

unresolved?1571

staggeringa1577

frittle1579

irresolute1579

cheverel1583

off and on1583

halting1585

unsettleda1593

unresolving1599

demurring1607

waving1611

suspensive1614

hoveringa1616

startling1619

irresolved1621

hesitating1622

indetermined1628

variousa1643

branling1645

hesitant1647

non-sincere1656

hesitatious1657

humdrum1660

shuttlecock1660

yea-and-nay1672

swaying1688

interpendent1708

undetermined1718

Squadronec1720

hesitatorya1734

volanta1734

shilly-shally1734

dilly-dally1749

niffy-naffy1765

wiggle-waggle1778

undecided1779

undecisive1780

indecisive1787

conflicted1789

hesitative1795

undeciding1802

vacillating1814

yea-nay1827

demurrant1836

willy-nilly1839

shilly-shallying1842

oscillative1852

Hamletish1854

vacillatory1854

dilly-dallying1879

thistledown1897

weak-principled1913

not-quite1920

off-again on-again1923

dithery1931

havering1975

the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > inconstancy > [adjective] > temporizing or trimming

time-serving1571

temporizing1600

fair-weathered1608

yea-and-nay1672

fair-weather1677

trimming1683

sunshine1742

1672 J. Lacy Old Troop i. 6 He is an Hypocrite, a yea and nay knave; he cannot endure to plunder, but (in a godly manner) he will take all he can lay his hands on.

1775 F. Burney Let. 2 Mar. in Early Jrnls. & Lett. (1990) II. 75 He was a yea & nay man, not worth remembering.

1781 C. Johnstone Hist. John Juniper I. 81 One of your water-gruel, yea-and-nay good boys.

1828 L. Hunt Ld. Byron & Some Contemp. I. 309 Shelley..had only to become a yea and nay man in the House of Commons, to be one of the richest men in Sussex.

1865 A. Manning Belforest I. 200 I hate yea-and-nay persons that don't care, and leave it to you.

1901 News-Democrat (Uhrichsville, Ohio) 30 Aug. That woman in the gray skirt is a yea-and-nay sort of person. She wants to agree with everybody and follows wherever led.

1969 Jrnl. Philos. 66 262 No one would maintain that those dialogues in which the mere shell of the dialogue form is preserved, where the interlocutors are just yea and nay men, lack philosophical content.

†2. That is a Quaker; of or relating to the Quakers. Obsolete.With reference to the Quaker practice of refusing to swear oaths in a court of law, based on the belief that, regardless of the circumstances, nothing more emphatic than ‘yea’ or ‘nay’ should be used. Cf. by yea and nay at Phrases.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > sect > Christianity > Protestantism > Quakerism > [adjective]

quaking1653

yea-and-nay1656

Quaker-like1657

friendly1671

Quakerish1678

Quakerly1684

Quakeristical1685

Quakerian1696

Foxian1821

Quakeric1847

1656 R. Flecknoe Diarium 35 Above all of your yea and nay Man, take especial heed I pray.

1678 (title) A Yea and Nay Almanack for the people call'd Quakers.

1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Yea and Nay-Men, Quakers.

1720 E. Bockett (title) The Yea and Nay Stock-jobbers or the 'Change-Alley Quakers anatomiz'd.

?1785 Merry Jester 31 A clergyman coming to one of the Yea and Nay profession for his tythes, the Quaker kindly asked him in.

Phrases

† by yea and nay: on one's word, by one's affirmation; frequently used in place of an oath as an asseveration. Obsolete.The use of this formula in place of an oath is based on an interpretation of Matthew 5:34: ‘Swear not at all... But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.’ (King James Version).

?1543 M. Coverdale Christen Exhortacion f. 13 It is both folysh and damnable, whan a man can not be beleued by yea and naye, withoute an othe, because he wolde be beleued to sweare.

1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost i. i. 54 Longa. You swore to that Berowne, and to the rest. Bero. By yea and nay sir, than I swore in iest.

?1661 Merry Drollery: 1st Pt. f. 2^v He swore by yea and nay He would have no denial.

1682 A. Behn False Count Prol. sig. A2^v By Yea and Nay, shee'll throw her self on you.

1731 C. Coffey & J. Mottley Devil to Pay i. i. 4 You surly Jade, by Yea and Nay, If here you any longer stay,..I'll strap you well.

1796 J. C. Cross Parnassian Bagatelles 144 'Tis truth now, by yea and by nay!

1827 W. M. Praed in La Belle Assemblée Nov. 198/1 But, still the lady shook her head, And swore, by yea and nay, My whole was all that he had said, And all that he could say.

1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) at Yea ‘By fair yea and nay,’ by a solemn affirmation.

1918 Sat. Rev. 9 Mar. 203/1 By Yea and Nay it is a passive resister if ever there were one.

Derivatives

† yea and nayish adj. Obsolete rare of indefinite or indeterminate character; equivocal.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > insecure knowledge, uncertainty > [adjective] > of indeterminate character

neither fish nor flesh (nor good red herring)1528

ambiguous1603

yea-and-nay1648

yea and nayish1777

borderline1937

1777 F. Burney Jrnl. July in Early Jrnls. & Lett. (1990) II. 272 Our Journey proved very yea and nayish.

1870 John Bull 6 June 391/1 Their French seems unutterably sawny, yea and nayish to natives.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2019; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	yea-and-nay
释义	yea-and-nayn.adj. Brit. /ˌjeɪən(d)ˈneɪ/, U.S. /ˌjeɪənˈneɪ/ Forms: see yea adv. and n. and and conj.¹, adv., and n.¹ and nay adv.¹ and n. Origin: Formed within English, by compounding. Etymons: yea adv., and conj.¹, nay adv.¹ Etymology: < yea adv. + and conj.¹ + nay adv.¹In some early examples translating pairs of positive and negative verb forms or phrases in post-classical Latin (used in place of ‘yes’ and ‘no’), implying that the English phrase already had independent currency. In sense A. 3 after Occitan Oc-e-No, lit. ‘yes and no’, a nickname given to Richard I by the troubadour Bertran de Born (d. c1215), e.g. in the passage translated in quot. 1910 at sense A. 3. A. n. 1. Positive and negative statement (or command); affirmation and denial (or injunction and prohibition). Also: alternate affirmation and denial; vacillation. ΘΠ the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > [noun] yea-and-nayc1384 vacillationc1400 titteringa1413 stackeringc1440 wondingc1440 fluctuationc1450 waver1519 mammering1532 uncertainty1548 wavering1548 to and fro1553 suspense1560 staggering1565 suspension1568 mammery1578 demur1581 branle1591 dilly-dally1592 hesitance1601 irresolution1601 uncertainness1601 undecision1611 waveringness1614 hesitancy1617 unsettledness1619 hesitation1622 unresolvednessa1626 doubleness of minda1628 wavinga1628 swagging1636 poise1637 mambling1640 stickagea1647 vacillancy1668 whifflinga1677 hovering1679 unresolve1679 irresoluteness1686 shilly-shally1755 indecisiona1763 undecisiveness1779 indecisiveness1793 oscillation1798 flexility1815 shilly-shallying1842 swaying1850 Hamletism1852 teeter1855 havering1866 off and on1875 dilly-dallying1879 double-mindedness1881 hesitatingness1890 dither1958 the mind > language > statement > affirmation and denial > [noun] yea-and-nayc1384 c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 2 Cor. i. 17 Is and not, or ȝhe and nay [L. est et non]. a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1879) VII. 297 He folwede þe kynges wille and his ȝee and nay [L. velle et nolle] in al manere wise. 1526 Bible (Tyndale) 2 Cor. i. 18 Oure preachynge vnto you, was not ye and naye [Gk. τὸ Ναὶ ναὶ καὶ τὸ Οὒ οὔ]. 1540 J. Palsgrave in tr. G. Gnapheus Comedye of Acolastus Declar. Names sig. b4 To flatter hym, and holde him vp with ye and nay. 1637 S. Rutherford Lett. (1863) I. cxxxviii. 330 With whom Scribes and Pharisees were at yea and nay and sharp contradiction. 1720 M. Prior Conversation 34 These two went on, With yea and nay, and pro and con. 1782 W. Mason Dean & 'Squire 3 Kings derive their lawful sway All from the people's yea and nay. 1828 S. T. Coleridge in Amulet 45 Then came a restless state, 'twixt yea and nay. 1886 J. Ruskin Præterita II. i. 27 There had been a good deal of dealers' yea and nay about it. 1908 F. L. Wellman Art of Cross-examination (new ed.) ix. 155 The plaintiff swore there was an agreement... The defendant swore no such conversation ever took place. Where was the truth? The direct yea and nay of this proposition occupied about five minutes of the court's time. 1988 ‘C. J. Cherryh’ Paladin x. 179 Jiro, confused by this yea and nay, threw his head and worked the bit. †2. slang. (A nickname for) a Quaker. See sense B. 2. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > faith > sect > Christianity > Protestantism > Quakerism > [noun] > person meeter1646 shaker1648 Quaker1651 friend1656 yea-and-nay1685 trembler1689 Whaker1700 broad-brim1749 plain Friend1774 shad-belly1842 drabman1860 1685–8 Trappand Cuckold-maker (single sheet) He would not trust poor yea and nay. 1693 England's Merry Jester 154 Yea and Nay went to him, and demanded the reason, why he troubled him. ?1725 (title) Yea and Nay's answer, to the Quaker's dry-bottle. ?1785 Merry Jester 31 Well friend, says Yea and Nay, I have offered thee a meat-offering, a drink offering, and a burnt-offering. 1807 H. Corp Antidote Miseries Human Life 4 They were Yeas and Nays. ‘What's that?’ said I... ‘O quack, quack I suppose,’ said the squire. 3. historical. A name given to King Richard I of England (1157–99). Chiefly in Richard Yea-and-Nay.The motivation for the name is unclear. ΘΚΠ society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > sovereign ruler or monarch > king > [noun] > king of England > specific Great Deliverer1695 yea-and-nay1900 1900 M. Hewlett (title) The life and death of Richard Yea-and-Nay. 1910 E. Pound tr. B. de Born in Spirit of Romance iii. 43 Papiols, be glad to go speedily to ‘Yea and Nay’ [Occitan Oc-e-No], and tell him there's too much peace about. 1911 C. R. L. Fletcher & R. Kipling School Hist. Eng. 70 ‘Richard Yea and Nay’, so called because he spoke the truth. 1964 N.Y. Times 4 Oct. (Book Review) vii. 40/5 When Denys decides to kill this Richard Yea-and-Nay..he finds himself not only unable to carry through his plot but ends up allowing himself to be taken captive. B. adj. 1. a. Of indefinite or indeterminate character; changeable; ambiguous. ΘΠ the world > time > change > changeableness > [adjective] slidinga900 wankleeOE windyc1000 unsteadfastc1200 fleeting?c1225 loose?c1225 brotelc1315 unstablec1340 varyingc1340 variantc1374 motleyc1380 ungroundedc1380 muablea1393 passiblea1393 remuablea1393 changeablea1398 movablea1398 variablec1397 slidderya1400 ticklec1400 variantc1412 flitting1413 mutable?a1425 movingc1425 flaskisable1430 flickering1430 transmutablec1430 vertible1447 brittlea1450 ficklea1450 permutablec1450 unfirmc1450 uncertain1477 turnable1483 unsteadfast1483 vagrantc1522 inconstant1526 alterable?1531 stirringc1540 slippery1548 various1552 slid?1553 mutala1561 rolling1561 weathery1563 unconstant1568 interchangeable1574 fluctuant1575 stayless1575 transitive1575 voluble1575 changeling1577 queasy1579 desultory1581 huff-puff1582 unstaid1586 vagrant1586 changeful1590 floating1594 Protean1594 unstayed1594 swimming1596 anchorless1597 mobilec1600 ticklish1601 catching1603 labile1603 unrooted1604 quicksilvered1605 versatile1605 insubstantial1607 uncertain1609 brandling1611 rootless1611 squeasy1611 wind-changinga1616 insolid1618 ambulatory1625 versatilous1629 plastic1633 desultorious1637 unbottomed1641 fluid1642 fluent1648 yea-and-nay1648 versipellous1650 flexile1651 uncentred1652 variating1653 chequered1656 slideable1662 transchangeative1662 weathercock-like1663 flicketing1674 fluxa1677 lapsable1678 wanton1681 veering1684 upon the weathercock1702 contingent1703 unsettled?1726 fermentable1731 afloat1757 brickle1768 wavy1795 vagarious1798 unsettled1803 fitful1810 metamorphosical1811 undulating1815 tittupya1817 titubant1817 mutative1818 papier mâché1818 teetotum1819 vacillating1822 capricious1823 sensitive1828 quicksilvery1829 unengrafted1829 fluxionala1834 proteiform1833 liquid1835 tottlish1835 kaleidoscopic1846 versative1846 kaleidoscopical1858 tottery1861 choppy1865 variative1874 variational1879 wimbly-wambly1881 fluctuable1882 shifty1882 giveable1884 shifty1884 tippy1886 mutatory1890 upsettable1890 rocky1897 undulatory1897 streaky1898 tottly1905 tipply1906 up and down1907 inertialess1927 sometimey1946 rise-and-fall1950 switchable1961 the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > equivocal quality, ambiguity > [adjective] double?c1225 uncertainc1384 equivoquea1450 amphibille?1450 ambiguousc1487 indifferent?1531 forked1551 amphibological1587 equivocal1601 double-meaning1605 left-handed1610 dilogical1616 two-edgeda1625 biviousa1644 equivocating1645 amphibolous1647 yea-and-nay1648 amphibolical1652 bifarious1656 double-handed1661 squibbling1674 ambigual1683 equivocous1701 ambiguea1734 double-edged1791 multivocala1834 grey1835 amphibolic1873 ambivalent1923 the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > insecure knowledge, uncertainty > [adjective] > of indeterminate character neither fish nor flesh (nor good red herring)1528 ambiguous1603 yea-and-nay1648 yea and nayish1777 borderline1937 1648 T. Winyard Owle at Athens sig. A3^v Then gave a Bible, which his Lordship tooke; Yet told him he could sweare without a Booke; This Yea-and-Nay welcome made my Lord coy. 1843 Spiritual Mag. Apr. 90/1 If there be one thing in the people of God I dislike more than another it is fickleness of mind, and a sort of yea and nay friendship. 1886 A. E. Barr Bow of Orange Ribbon v. 62 You should hae made a' things plain and positive to Katherine. Such skimble-skamble, yea and nay kind o' ways willna do wi' women. 1908 Atlanta Constit. 9 May 8/4 There's only one performance of the yea-and-nay sort that equals Guyt's denial-admission of the conference.., and that is, Hoke's yea-and-nay statements concerning the use of ‘light wines and beer’. 1931 L. B. Wilder Adventures in Suburban Garden ii. 20 Japanese Anemones seem to be quite hardy where the winters are continuously cold, but where the climate is of a yea and nay character they often perish. 2009 Victorian Lit. & Culture 37 121 Rabelais's speech-acting nonsense poet Raminagrobis..also performs this kind of yea-and-nay mysticism. b. Of a person: tending to affirm or deny indifferently or according to expediency; hesitating, vacillating, undecided. Now rare. ΘΚΠ the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > [adjective] twiredec888 orrathc1175 twofoldc1175 twifoldc1200 waveringc1315 uncertain1382 suspensec1440 mammeringa1450 flowing?1504 floghtering1521 vacillant1521 in a mammering1532 double-minded1552 unstaid1561 unresolute1570 unresolved?1571 staggeringa1577 frittle1579 irresolute1579 cheverel1583 off and on1583 halting1585 unsettleda1593 unresolving1599 demurring1607 waving1611 suspensive1614 hoveringa1616 startling1619 irresolved1621 hesitating1622 indetermined1628 variousa1643 branling1645 hesitant1647 non-sincere1656 hesitatious1657 humdrum1660 shuttlecock1660 yea-and-nay1672 swaying1688 interpendent1708 undetermined1718 Squadronec1720 hesitatorya1734 volanta1734 shilly-shally1734 dilly-dally1749 niffy-naffy1765 wiggle-waggle1778 undecided1779 undecisive1780 indecisive1787 conflicted1789 hesitative1795 undeciding1802 vacillating1814 yea-nay1827 demurrant1836 willy-nilly1839 shilly-shallying1842 oscillative1852 Hamletish1854 vacillatory1854 dilly-dallying1879 thistledown1897 weak-principled1913 not-quite1920 off-again on-again1923 dithery1931 havering1975 the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > inconstancy > [adjective] > temporizing or trimming time-serving1571 temporizing1600 fair-weathered1608 yea-and-nay1672 fair-weather1677 trimming1683 sunshine1742 1672 J. Lacy Old Troop i. 6 He is an Hypocrite, a yea and nay knave; he cannot endure to plunder, but (in a godly manner) he will take all he can lay his hands on. 1775 F. Burney Let. 2 Mar. in Early Jrnls. & Lett. (1990) II. 75 He was a yea & nay man, not worth remembering. 1781 C. Johnstone Hist. John Juniper I. 81 One of your water-gruel, yea-and-nay good boys. 1828 L. Hunt Ld. Byron & Some Contemp. I. 309 Shelley..had only to become a yea and nay man in the House of Commons, to be one of the richest men in Sussex. 1865 A. Manning Belforest I. 200 I hate yea-and-nay persons that don't care, and leave it to you. 1901 News-Democrat (Uhrichsville, Ohio) 30 Aug. That woman in the gray skirt is a yea-and-nay sort of person. She wants to agree with everybody and follows wherever led. 1969 Jrnl. Philos. 66 262 No one would maintain that those dialogues in which the mere shell of the dialogue form is preserved, where the interlocutors are just yea and nay men, lack philosophical content. †2. That is a Quaker; of or relating to the Quakers. Obsolete.With reference to the Quaker practice of refusing to swear oaths in a court of law, based on the belief that, regardless of the circumstances, nothing more emphatic than ‘yea’ or ‘nay’ should be used. Cf. by yea and nay at Phrases. ΘΚΠ society > faith > sect > Christianity > Protestantism > Quakerism > [adjective] quaking1653 yea-and-nay1656 Quaker-like1657 friendly1671 Quakerish1678 Quakerly1684 Quakeristical1685 Quakerian1696 Foxian1821 Quakeric1847 1656 R. Flecknoe Diarium 35 Above all of your yea and nay Man, take especial heed I pray. 1678 (title) A Yea and Nay Almanack for the people call'd Quakers. 1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Yea and Nay-Men, Quakers. 1720 E. Bockett (title) The Yea and Nay Stock-jobbers or the 'Change-Alley Quakers anatomiz'd. ?1785 Merry Jester 31 A clergyman coming to one of the Yea and Nay profession for his tythes, the Quaker kindly asked him in. Phrases † by yea and nay: on one's word, by one's affirmation; frequently used in place of an oath as an asseveration. Obsolete.The use of this formula in place of an oath is based on an interpretation of Matthew 5:34: ‘Swear not at all... But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.’ (King James Version). Π ?1543 M. Coverdale Christen Exhortacion f. 13 It is both folysh and damnable, whan a man can not be beleued by yea and naye, withoute an othe, because he wolde be beleued to sweare. 1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost i. i. 54 Longa. You swore to that Berowne, and to the rest. Bero. By yea and nay sir, than I swore in iest. View more context for this quotation ?1661 Merry Drollery: 1st Pt. f. 2^v He swore by yea and nay He would have no denial. 1682 A. Behn False Count Prol. sig. A2^v By Yea and Nay, shee'll throw her self on you. 1731 C. Coffey & J. Mottley Devil to Pay i. i. 4 You surly Jade, by Yea and Nay, If here you any longer stay,..I'll strap you well. 1796 J. C. Cross Parnassian Bagatelles 144 'Tis truth now, by yea and by nay! 1827 W. M. Praed in La Belle Assemblée Nov. 198/1 But, still the lady shook her head, And swore, by yea and nay, My whole was all that he had said, And all that he could say. 1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) at Yea ‘By fair yea and nay,’ by a solemn affirmation. 1918 Sat. Rev. 9 Mar. 203/1 By Yea and Nay it is a passive resister if ever there were one. Derivatives † yea and nayish adj. Obsolete rare of indefinite or indeterminate character; equivocal. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > insecure knowledge, uncertainty > [adjective] > of indeterminate character neither fish nor flesh (nor good red herring)1528 ambiguous1603 yea-and-nay1648 yea and nayish1777 borderline1937 1777 F. Burney Jrnl. July in Early Jrnls. & Lett. (1990) II. 272 Our Journey proved very yea and nayish. 1870 John Bull 6 June 391/1 Their French seems unutterably sawny, yea and nayish to natives. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2019; most recently modified version published online June 2022). < n.adj.c1384
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