how to say “to buy time” in Hebrew
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לִקְנוֹת זְמַן, לְהַרְוִיחַ זְמַן
To buy time means to put off an event until circumstances change in one’s favor. Hebrew translates this concept in two ways, one literal:
לִקְנוֹת זְמַן
to buy time
and one approximate:
לְהַרְוִיחַ זְמַן
to gain time
Truth is, English also uses the expression to gain time, but English tends to use to buy time more often, while Hebrew does the opposite.
For example:
יֵשׁ שֶׁאוֹמְרִים שֶׁאִירָאן מְנַסָּה לְהַרְוִיחַ זְמַן בְּרִכּוּךְ דְּבָרֶיהָ.
There are those that say that Iran is trying to gain time with its softer (softening of) words.
In this sentence, להרוויח זמן could easily be replaced by לקנות זמן.
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