do things sloppily; be bedraggled [bedrabbled]; be dragged through mud and water; be unable to make a decision; beat about the bush; diffuse, irrelevant talk; drag along, leaving traces of water and mud; dragged through mud and water -- an obscure style; drag out in what can be put in a neat and succinct way; end one's remarks in a hesitating or inconclusive way; give sth. to a person with strings attached to it; make a long-drawn speech; messy; muddy; not clear-cut; slipshod writing; sloppy; slovenly; spin out a discourse; unclean; untidy