hurry up and wait

To quickly take some action, only to be halted at the next step in the process. If you're going to fly, be prepared to hurry up and wait—those security lines take forever to get through. Why do all these people rush out of the stadium before the game is over? They're just going to hurry up and wait in the parking lot.

Fig. to do some things in a series fast and then have to wait a long time to do the next things in the series. (Originally military.) That's all we ever do. Rush to stand in line somewhere. We just hurry up and wait all day long. Hurry up and wait! That's the army for you.

Move quickly and then have to wait for something or someone. For example, We did our share in good time, but the others were several days behind so we couldn't finish-it was another case of hurry up and wait . This expression dates from the 1940s and probably originated in the armed services.

Rush to an appointment or make haste in response to an order and then be required to wait for a long time. This expression became current in the armed forces during World War II and quickly moved into civilian life. Greg Rucka described it graphically in A Gentleman’s Game (2004): “It’s hurry up and wait, you knew that was the job when you signed up. Months of sitting . . . punctuated by bouts of . . . panic.”