foot-dragging vs reticence

foot-dragging

noun
  • The deliberate delaying of obligatory action. 

reticence

noun
  • Followed by of: discretion or restraint in the use of something. 

  • Often followed by to: hesitancy or reluctance (to do something). 

  • Avoidance of saying or reluctance to say too much; discretion, tight-lippedness; (countable) an instance of acting in this manner. 

  • A silent and reserved nature. 

verb
  • To deliberately not listen or pay attention to; to disregard, to ignore. 

How often have the words foot-dragging and reticence occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )