BACK AND FILL

back and fill: translation

Fig.to act indecisively; to change one's direction repeatedly; to reverse one's course. (Originally nautical, referring to trimming the sails so as to alternately fill them with wind and release the wind, in order to maneuver in a narrow space.) •

The president spent most of his speech backing and filling on the question of taxation.

•

The other candidate was backing and filling on every issue, depending on whom she was addressing.