IS IT pre-agreement tension, or might it be something more serious?
But, arguably, any attempt to secure a pre-agreement would simply generate yet another round of bickering.
Bill Clinton's envoy to Northern Ireland, George Mitchell, who chaired the pre-agreement talks, put it more succinctly.
"The fighting has intensified to essentially pre-agreement or pre-standdown levels and in some cases beyond".
The two countries recently signed a pre-agreement to build a gas pipeline from Iran to Pakistan and, theoretically at least, on to India.
Liverpool have made enquiries about a deal this month although reports in Serbia yesterday that Krasic has signed a pre-agreement to join them do not tally with Fifa rules governing transfers.
Following the impressive draw against Arsenal, Everton manager Roberto Martinez confirmed that there is a pre-agreement which allows Barcelona winger Gerard Deulofeu remain with the Toffees for a second season should they allow him to do so.
Then came the painter Hedda Sterne, like Steinberg a Romanian Jew, whom he married in New York, in 1944, and who remained his wife and chief confidante after their gradual breakup, in the late fifties; by pre-agreement, she held his hands as he died.
The associated costs can be covered by public sector operators, private sector operators or by both based on pre-agreements.
Stick to the pre-agreement rules and compromise will be a nurturing process rather than a prelude to anger.
Indeed, as many pointed out, they have long been doing so in their pre-Agreement collaborations.
