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Idiom: Buy time
Have you ever needed a few more minutes to think or finish something?
If so, you were buying time.
You can’t add years to your life by buying time, but you can delay something from happening.
Buy time is an idiom.
It means doing something that delays an event or situation, so you have more time to deal with it.
You are not actually purchasing time; you are creating a short delay to help yourself or others.
So, I guess we are spending more time doing something instead of getting extra time.
For example, if you are not ready for a meeting, you might buy time by asking a question to keep the conversation going a little longer.
People buy time in many different situations.
A student who has not finished their homework might buy time by telling the teacher they forgot it at home, or the classic excuse, ‘my dog ate it.’
A businessperson might buy time during a negotiation by asking for more details before making a decision.
Even in sports, a winning team might buy time by slowing the game down near the end.
When people buy time, they usually have a plan.
They aren’t just being lazy or dishonest.
They need a short delay to think, gather information, or prepare a better response.
For example, a doctor might buy time before giving bad news by choosing words carefully.
You can’t always buy time.
Sometimes you must act immediately.
It’s a useful skill to know when to buy time and when to respond right away.
Next time you face a tough situation, consider whether you can buy time.
A brief delay can help.
Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test
This post is understandable by someone with at least a 6th-grade education (age 11 – 13).
On the Flesch-Kincaid reading-ease test, this post scores 72.
The easier a passage is to read, the higher the score on a scale of 0 – 100.
