您现在的位置: Language Tips> Columnist> Zhang Xin  
   
 





 
Doing the rounds
[ 2008-11-07 10:53 ]


Doing the rounds

Reader question:

In "take a look at the latest rumors doing the rounds in the city", what does "doing the rounds" mean?

My comments:

Rumors doing the rounds in the city means... Oh, hold on a sec. Let me beat about the bush a bit this time before giving the answer.

"Round", the root word, describes something that is circle-shaped. Football is round, as they say, a cliché pointing to the fickle nature of the game – in other words, you can't predict the result of a game no matter how much stronger one team appears than the other on paper.

The Earth goes round (and round) the Sun, meaning the planet runs circles around the star.

In a single-elimination (meaning losing one game and you are out) sports tournament, players each play one match per round – winners advance to the next round while losers go home.

A round-table meeting is one in which people sit and talk from seats placed round a table.

Is there enough food to go round? That is a question asking whether there's enough for all with no one left out.

When it's your turn to buy everyone a drink at the bar, you say "it's my round."

A traditional family doctor out on his rounds (plural) is one who goes out to make a regular visit to each and every one of his patients.

If a rumor is said to be "doing the rounds in the city" – we're finally getting round to it – it's circulating in town. The message is passed on from one mouth to another and everybody hears it.

Wow, this is easy, isn't it? No need for definitions. Good and by the way, "doing the rounds" is sometimes varied into "making the rounds" or "going the rounds".

Here are media examples:

1. doing the rounds:

So now we know what John McCain really thinks of his running mate Sarah Palin – and that's not just because of the awkward body language between them during his concession speech in Phoenix, Arizona.

An exasperated McCain has been telling friends in recent weeks that Palin is even more trouble than a pitbull.

In one joke doing the rounds, the Republican presidential candidate has been asking friends: what is the difference between Sarah Palin and a pitbull? The friendly canine eventually lets go, is the McCain punchline.

McCain's joke is a skit on Palin's most famous line after she was picked as his surprise running mate. Palin delighted the Republican base when she said the only difference between a pitbull and a hockey mom was lipstick.

- McCain's verdict on Palin: more trouble than a pitbull, Guardian.co.uk, November 5, 2008.

2. making the rounds:

Virginia elections officials said fliers are making the rounds in several Hampton Roads localities attempting to confuse voters.

The fliers advise Republicans to vote on Nov. 4, and Democrats on Nov. 5.

Election Day for everyone, of course, is Nov. 4.

The bogus advisory features the logo of the State Board of Elections and states the two voting dates are intended to ease the load on local balloting officials.

State police are looking into the source of the fliers.

- Bogus Election Fliers Probed in Hampton Roads, WashingtonPost.com, October 28, 2008.

3. going the rounds:

Computers may not yet be able to make jokes, but jokes are being made about them. The latestgoing the rounds in board rooms and barrooms concerns the unknown fellow who was suddenly made president of one of the nation's largest firms. Reporters wanted to know the secret of his meteoric rise. Had he won controlling stock interest in the company? No; didn't own a share. Did he have pals on the board of directors? Not even an acquaintance. Had he pioneered a new industrial process? Couldn't even fix a lawnmower. At last, one reporter asked point-blank how he got the job then. "Oh, that's simple," answered the new president. "A guy in golf spikes stepped on my IBM card."

- I Got My Job Through . . ., Time magazine, May 12, 1961.

我要看更多专栏文章

 

About the author:
 

Zhang Xin is Trainer at chinadaily.com.cn. He 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.

 
英语点津版权说明:凡注明来源为“英语点津:XXX(署名)”的原创作品,除与中国日报网签署英语点津内容授权协议的网站外,其他任何网站或单位未经允许不得非法盗链、转载和使用,违者必究。如需使用,请与010-84883631联系;凡本网注明“来源:XXX(非英语点津)”的作品,均转载自其它媒体,目的在于传播更多信息,其他媒体如需转载,请与稿件来源方联系,如产生任何问题与本网无关;本网所发布的歌曲、电影片段,版权归原作者所有,仅供学习与研究,如果侵权,请提供版权证明,以便尽快删除。
相关文章 Related Story
 
 
 
本频道最新推荐
 
Walking in the US first lady's shoes
“准确无误”如何表达
英国新晋超女苏珊大妈改头换面
猪流感 swine flu
你有lottery mentality吗
翻吧推荐
 
论坛热贴
 
别乱扔垃圾。怎么译这个乱字呀?
橘子,橙子用英文怎么区分?
看Gossip Girl学英语
端午节怎么翻译?
母亲,您在天堂还好吗?