It is a tiresome way of speaking, when you should despatch the business, to beat about the bush.
PlautusNo one can be so welcome a guest that he will not become an annoyance when he has stayed three continuous days in a friend's house. [Lat., Hospes nullus tam in amici hospitium diverti potest, Quin ubi triduum continuum fuerit jam odiosus siet.
Plautus