Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Winding, tortuous, sinuous: Describes a path, road, or river that has many turns and bends, not straight.
   • Circumlocutory, indirect, evasive: Describes speech, reasoning, or actions that are not straightforward, that avoid addressing a point directly, or that intentionally conceal the truth.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Con đường vào làng rất quanh co. (The road to the village is very winding.)
  • Dòng sông chảy quanh co qua những cánh đồng. (The river flows sinuously through the fields.)
  • Anh ta trả lời một cách quanh co, không muốn nói thẳng sự thật. (He answered evasively, not wanting to tell the truth directly.)
  • Lý lẽ quanh co của bị cáo không thuyết phục được hội đồng xét xử. (The defendant's tortuous argument did not convince the jury.)

Advanced Usage

• "nói quanh co": to beat around the bush, to speak in a roundabout way.
  • Đừng nói quanh co nữa, hãy đi thẳng vào vấn đề đi. (Stop beating around the bush, get to the point.)
• "đường đi lối lại quanh co": winding paths and roads.
  • Khu phố cổ có những ngõ hẻm quanh co. (The old quarter has winding alleys.)

Variants and Related Words

• Quanh quéo (adj., informal): Similar to "quanh co," meaning winding or roundabout, often used in spoken language.
  • Con đường này quanh quéo quá, dễ lạc lắm. (This road is too winding, it's easy to get lost.)
• Vòng vo (adj./adv.): Roundabout, circumlocutory. Often used in the phrase "nói vòng vo" (to speak in a roundabout way), which is very similar to "nói quanh co."
  • Cô ấy cứ nói vòng vo mãi. (She kept talking in circles.)

Synonyms

• Khúc khuỷu (adj.): Rugged, full of sharp bends (often for roads or terrain). Emphasizes difficulty more than "quanh co."
• Uốn khúc (verb phrase): To meander, to wind (often for rivers).
• Gián tiếp (adj.): Indirect. Focuses on the method rather than the deceptive quality.
• Lòng vòng (adj./adv.): Roundabout, circuitous. Similar to "quanh co" but can imply unnecessary length.

Antonyms

• Thẳng (adj.): Straight.
• Trực tiếp (adj.): Direct.
• Thẳng thắn (adj.): Frank, straightforward.

1. meandering; full of turns tortuous
   • lý lẽ quanh co
     a tortous argument