Reader's question:
The on-again, off-again Doha Round of talks started in 2001 to lower trade barriers and increase international commerce. 請問on-again, off-again, 是指“一輪又一輪“嗎？

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.

Go to Zhang Xin's column

本文僅代表作者本人觀點，與本網立場無關。歡迎大家討論學術問題，尊重他人，禁止人身攻擊和發布一切違反國家現行法律法規的內容。

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.