Is there another word for taking a long extended vacation or an
indefinite amount of time? Example "I am going on a _____ vacation",
like "I don't know how long it will last". It's an adjective, similar
to indefinite.  Please help!

---

Request for Question Clarification by markj-ga on 17 Feb 2005 02:37 PST

brookiemb --

It is hard to know from your question whether you are looking for a
particular word that you vaguely remember or whether you are looking
for suggestions.

The word I suggest for use in your example is "open-ended."  Three of
its dictionary meanings are:

"1. Not restrained by definite limits, restrictions, or structure. 2.
Allowing for or adaptable to change. 3. Inconclusive or indefinite"

Source: The American HeritageŽ Dictionary of the English Language:
Fourth Edition.  2000.

Bartelby.com: "open-ended"
http://www.bartleby.com/61/94/O0089400.html 
  
 
Please let me know if "open-ended" is the word you are looking for.


markj-ga

---

Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 17 Feb 2005 07:03 PST

The phrase I most commonly hear is "extended vacation", as in:

"I'm taking an extended vacation.  See ya when I see ya!"


Is that what you're looking for?

---

Clarification of Question by brookiemb-ga on 17 Feb 2005 11:49 PST

It's a precise word that I vaguely remember, I couldn't find it in the thesaurus.

Indeterminate...?

http://www.allwords.com/query.php?SearchType=3&Keyword=indefinite&goquery=Find+it%21&Language=ENG&v=35176198


1. indefinite.

Thesaurus: inaccurate, ambiguous, estimated, inaccurate, loose,
unprecise, fluctuating, ill-defined, indeterminate, inexact,
unscientific, vague;

Definitions 
indefinite
adj 

1. Without fixed or exact limits or clearly marked outlines.

Example: off sick for an indefinite period
2. Uncertain; vague; imprecise.

Example: was very indefinite about her plans
3. grammar.
Not referring to a particular person or thing. See also indefinite article.
Derivative: indefinitely
adverb

For an unfixed or limitless period of time
Thesaurus: endlessly, interminably, continually, continuously, inexhaustibly.
In an unclear or indecisive way
Thesaurus: vaguely, indecisively, loosely, inexactly, ambiguously,
irresolutely, indistinctly, obscurely, equivocally, amorphously,
generally; Antonym: positively, exactly, clearly.
Derivative: indefiniteness
noun

In an uncertain, vague or imprecise way
Etymology: 16c.

prolonged

A vacation of undetermined length is sometimes called a "sabbatical."

"Tentative" is an adjective which means "not fully worked out or concluded".

It's a particular word that I vaguely remember, I couldn't find it in the thesaurus.

This isn't an adjective, but it might be turned into one.
"Perendinate" means "to postpone indefinitely" or "to put off until
the next day."

For about as long as it takes a google researcher  to  post an answer
to  a simple question they have locked!  I hope you get one hell of an
answer!

I gave up trying to post this after more than two hours and went to bed.

Here's the short list:

indeterminate; unknown; undefined; arbitrary; open-ended; flexible;
unpredictable; timeless; unspecified;

While I was twiddling my thumbs trying to post this answer repeatedly
to no avail I came up with a few more...

some time; a period; a while; a time; anon; a good(ly)
time/period/interval/while; before (too) long;

on a Monday (somewhere around two); by Christmas; by-and-by;
eventually; in the future; as and when; down the track/line; at some
point; in the fullness of time; when circumstances dictate; not before
time; when I see you; before you know it; when you least expect it;

when Burnham Wood comes to Dunsinane Hill; as the Muse takes me; when
the cows come home; when the swallows return to Capistrano; in two
shakes of a lamb's tail; half past Thursday/December; when the big
hand is just past Mickey's ear;

when it suits me; when hell freezes over; when I'm good an &^%$&^ ready;

"I shall return!"

protracted ?

Just say that you don't know when youl be back DUH!!

That's not the point.  The point was that I couldn't remember the
*word*.  The example was merely that... an example.