Yet

as in

"I don't know yet."

Variations: "I haven’t made up my mind yet ... I haven’t decided yet ... I’m not ready for that yet."

What’s at stake here? If it’s simply a matter of whether she is going to wear a dress or jeans next week, take up yoga or learn Greek, there is no problem. She can procrastinate, dither, savour the uncertainty all she wants.

You can either humour her and then get on with what matters to you or ... it won’t make any difference ... leave her alone and get on with what matters to you. But if you are trying to start a relationship, hoping to get served before the restaurant shuts or approaching an intersection at 70 miles an hour - and it is at times like this that “yet” often pops up - you are likely to be a little piqued, and quite right too.

What is it that makes the world so confusing for her, that even the simplest of issues can take on the magnitude of “to be or not to be”? You ask: “Would you like to sleep or get up? Stay in or go out? Live with me for the rest of your life or walk?” She answers: “I don’t know yet. I want to paint my nails right now ... sit in the bath ... watch last night's East Enders again.”

And you think: “Hello! Life is going by! There are a few arrangements that have to be looked after. Could you maybe make up your mind sometime this century?” The hell of it is the uncertainty. “Yet’. Is she talking about a few minutes? A day or two? Or yea

Truth is, she doesn't know. She may be so happy having the choice that she will never decide, which will probably be disastrous. Or she hasn't even begun to consider the problem ... "yet" ... which will certainly be catastrophic. Either way, you have no alternative but to wait. This is what makes men men. The courage to hang around until she finally opts for Yea or Nay.