Knowing is pleasurable on the moment.

Once you've known, you suffer.

The suffering cannot end, as the knowing cannot be turned off.

To mitigate the suffering, you are compelled to know more...

Hence the perpetuation and aggravation of the suffering.

This is what I cooked for the Chinese New Year's eve. Basically, what's in the earthenware pot becomes the chicken dish (braised with chestnuts). The rest are: steamed fish, sweet and sour radish salad and wokked cabbage.

万众一心、众志成城，团结互助、和衷共济，迎难而上、敢于胜利
All the people are joined by a single purpose and a common will as strong as city wall, unite with and help one another, pull together in times of difficulty, rise against all odds, and bravely embrace victory

在上一篇，我对《美国传统词典》(AHD)有微词，这里举个例子：
roundabout
释义：indirect; circuitous
好，那咱就来看看circuitous的释义：being or taking a roundabout, lengthy course

这种释义法，称为circular definition（嘻嘻，用跟circuitous同词根的词来批评AHD对此词的定义缺陷，很爽）。甲是什么？甲就是乙；乙是什么？乙就是甲。最多再从侧面给一点点提示：甲就是乙，或者小丙；乙就是甲，或者小丁。不懂？不懂就再去查查丙是什么，再琢磨小丙是什么； 或者查查丁是什么，再琢磨小丁是什么。然后综合起来想想，明白了吧？

犯了大忌呀！Enough said.

I rest my case.

But before I rest my case, let's find out what OALD (6th Edition) says about these two words.
roundabout:
adj. [usually before noun] not done or said using the shortest, simplest or most direct way possible (然后是两个例句，一为done，一为said)
circuitous:
adj. (formal) (of a route or journey) long and not direct

可以用两个字来形容：crystal clear!

有人会说，Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary嘛，顾名思义，是给学生用的，是学习用的。人家AHD肯定是给专家看的，不必这么啰嗦。

其实，把Learner's这个词放在词典的名字里，marketing的嫌疑很大，充其量只是对其收词量之小做一个此地无银的解释。

试问：哪个人查词典不是为了学习？

即使是读词典、背词典上瘾的人，也是对“学习”上瘾哪！