Deliberately evasive or confusing treatment where someone makes excuses instead of helping or giving a straight answer.
From 'run' plus 'around,' literally describing the circular motion of running around; figuratively developed to mean evasion or deliberate confusion.
Getting the runaround feels circular because it literally is—someone keeps sending you in circles, and the phrase perfectly captures that frustrating loop where you make progress but end up back where you started.
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