Is there a word for when you run into someone and both of you try to avoid each other and fail, repeatedly? [duplicate]

Question

It has most certainly happened to all of us at least once: Two people walking along the same narrow pathway in opposite directions walk into each other.

There is room for both to pass each other, but person A shifts to their left to avoid B, and B shifts to their right (i.e., A's left) in order to do the same thing, so they're still on a collision course.

They both realize the mistake and they both try to correct it by moving to the opposite side they did before, so the problem persists.

Rinse and repeat 3 or 4 times until one of the parties realizes: "I'll stick to the left (or right) no matter what, and let him pick the other side!", in a sort of perverse human feedback loop.

Is there a word or idiom to describe this situation?

Answer 1

That's something I've always known as the sidewalk shuffle:

the awkward dance that results when two people approach each other from opposite directions, each attempts to move out of the other's way, and both end up moving in the same direction. Often followed by further ungainly movement, apologies, and awkward laughter.

[Urban Dictionary]