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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.

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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.