They said they were speaking Italian. I don’t know either Italian or Sicilian. Neither does my husband. I presume they were speaking bad Italian rather than Sicilian.
I think it’s more likely that they were speaking Sicilian, which is often stigmatized and denigrated against standard Italian. My family’s dialect is (technically) Sicilian, though it’s from Calabria, and you might say
(Sicialian) Chiovi! Eu nun sugnu contentu.
(Italian) Piove! Io non sono contento.
(English) It’s raining! I’m not happy.
Same words, same order, but if you’re listening for Italian, you might not understand it. Plus there’s sounds in Sicilian that don’t occur in Italian, like figghiu beddu / figlio bello / handsome son.
Interesting! I did not know that. Though I have heard that many Italians from other parts of the country look down on Sicilians.
We also used shilly shally along with dilly dally. 
I only recently learned what a sugar plum is, from this very board.
I found out, being in the SCA, that a sugar plum does not always have any plums in them. Any sort of dried fruit can sub, in fact, but yeah dried plums/prunes are not uncommon.
Incidentally, they are just okay. Like Turkish Delight, they are one of the things you read about, your mouth waters, then you find out- “okay, not bad, but not that special”.
If we’re going to talk about Lollygaggers… (Not quite NSWF but you cause someone to raise and eye)
We have potted plants all through our home. In the sunroom alone there are more than 30. It made me sad to see “none” as the top response.
My parents didn’t use any of the listed terms when they were impatient, but my 5th grade teacher frequently admonished the class not to dilly-dally and delay. I think she was about 20 years older than my dad.
I wasn’t sure whether to count transplants overwintering in the house to be planted out in the spring; and reported the number in the teens that I got without them. If it were a bit later in the year and I had onions and herbs and first lettuce filling up the plant light shelves in the kitchen I’d have been up well over a thousand.
I am owned by cats, so the only real plant in the house is a container of cat grass. Anything other than plastic or silk would be eaten.
Luckily mine don’t seem to like most of the plants I have; though they do occasionally make inroads on the sweet potatoes.
It probably helps that most of the year they can get their greens outdoors.
I think my mother would have said, “hurry up, we’ll be late”, not any of the " don’t do … " phrases.
My grandfather used to joke about the law firm Dilly, Dally, Doolittle & Stahl.
After seeing Mary Poppins again, my wife and I were inspired to tell our sons to move or to do things “spit-spot,” that is, quickly.
I like that almost as much as Dewey, Cheatum, & Howe.
mmm
I don’t have any plants anymore inside the house. My townhouse/condo is too small, but I have about 12 potted plants (cacti & succulents) on the front entrance, and about 15 on the balcony off my bedroom on the second story.
Yep, we have to keep other plants outside.
We used to have a live Christmas tree, then plant it. The cats nibbling a bit oin the pine was no big deal.
Nitpick: it’s usually spelled “Cheatham”.
My favorite was from Benny Hill: the distinguished law firm of Martin, Barton, Parton, & Fargo.
True, but you’re a plant raising Spiders Georg
Thanks for explanatory link! I hadn’t heard of that.