What does 'give someone the runaround' mean? - YouTube

Feifei: Hello and welcome to The English We Speak.

I'm Feifei.

Rob: And I'm Rob. Hello.

Feifei: Hey, Rob, how is your application to

run in the marathon going?

Rob: Not great. I fill in a form and then I'm told

to fill in another one.

Feifei: Have you tried phoning someone?

Rob: Yes. And they won't give me a straight answer.

They just keep giving me the runaround.

Feifei: Well, that makes sense.

If you're going to run in a marathon,

you've got to run around.

Rob: No, Feifei. Giving someone the runaround

does not involve any exercise.

If you give someone the runaround,

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.

Feifei: I'm sure it is.

I know lots of situations where

I've been given the runaround.

Rob: Well, there's one place where you won't be

given the runaround.

It's here, with some helpful examples of this phrase.

Examples: When I called the bank to ask for a loan,

they just gave me the runaround.

She went to the hospital to get the results of her test,

but she just got the runaround.

Now she's going to make a formal complaint.

When I complained about the bill,

I was told to speak to the boss. But he wasn't there!

I think I'm just being given the runaround.

Feifei: This is The English We Speak

from BBC Learning English

and we're finding out about the phrase

'to give someone the runaround',

which means

'to deliberately behave in an unhelpful way'.

And, Rob, you've been given the runaround.

Rob: I have.

All I want to do is get a place in the marathon.

But nobody seems to want to help me.

Feifei: Could it be that you're so unfit,

they just don't want to give you a place?

Rob: I don't think so. I've been training for weeks!

Feifei: Well, I managed to get a place straight away

with no runaround.

Rob: What? You're running the marathon too?

Why didn't you tell me?

Right, I'm going to phone them again

and demand a place.

Feifei: And don't be given the runaround this time, Rob!

Rob: I won't. See you at the start line!

Feifei: Bye.