Reader's question:
The on-again, off-again Doha Round of talks started in 2001 to lower trade barriers and increase international commerce. 请问on-again, off-again, 是指“一轮又一轮“吗？

My comments:

No, not exactly.

“On-again, off-again” refers to any situation where something is scheduled, cancelled, re-scheduled and re-cancelled, again and again. If a meeting has been described as “on-again, off-again”, it’s been planned repetitively but is never held. If someone said “John’s on-again, off-again is on again”, for instance, it means John is going to tie the knot after all – or perhaps don’t be so sure. It may be off again yet one more time.

In the case of Doha, the trade talks were opened and adjourned again and again, each time failing to reach a satisfactory conclusion as countries keep bargaining for privileges for themselves and forcing for concessions from others.

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本文仅代表作者本人观点，与本网立场无关。欢迎大家讨论学术问题，尊重他人，禁止人身攻击和发布一切违反国家现行法律法规的内容。

Zhang Xin has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.