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The English We Speak from BBC Learning English.
Hello, and welcome to the English We Speak.
I'm Fei Fei.
And I'm Rob.
Hello.
Hey, Rob, how is your application to run in the marathon going?
Not great.
I fill in a form and then I'm told to fill in another one.
Have you tried phoning someone?
Yes, and they won't give me a straight answer.
They just keep giving me the run around.
Well, that makes sense.
If you're going to run in a marathon, you've got to run around.
No, Fei Fei.
Giving someone the run around does not involve any exercise.
If you give someone the run around, it means you behave in an unhelpful way,
possibly sending someone from one place to another to get help.
If you are given the runaround, it can be very frustrating.