ESL podcast 1075 – defying orders

I’m going to stop what’s going on using whatever means necessary.. [end of dialogue] Carol begins our dialogue by saying, “Hey, where are you going?” Miguel says, “We can’t sit here doin

Trang 1

GLOSSARY

order – a command; instruction about what one must do

* The military leaders gave orders to the soldiers to march up the enemy’s hill

to keep watch – to monitor and observe something, but without getting involved

* We asked our neighbor to keep watch on our house while we’re on vacation

consequence – a result or outcome of something; something that happens as a

result of something else

* Many believe that when parents don’t establish clear consequences for bad behavior, their children will continue to misbehave

to defy – to refuse to follow orders; to refuse to recognize and submit to

someone’s authority; to refuse to do what one has been told

* Teenagers sometimes think they need to defy their parents in order to prove that they are becoming adults

punishment – penalty; a negative consequence of one’s actions or words,

intended to make the person feel bad about his or her behavior and prevent it from happening again

* In our house, the punishment for hitting my brother was being made to wash the dishes all by myself

to sit still – to not move

* How in the world are we supposed to get 10 preschoolers to sit still for five minutes?

intervention – the act of becoming involved in something, especially to change

the process or outcome

* We thought the intervention would help, but it just made things worse

to enter the fray – to become involved in a fight, argument, or dispute; to join a

situation that is hostile or very competitive

* As demand for oil increases, more drilling companies are entering the fray

whatever means necessary – using whatever tools or strategies may be

available, without restricting oneself to using only certain ones

* Parents will make sure their children have enough to eat using whatever means necessary

Trang 2

to think (something) through – to carefully think about something before

making a decision; to carefully consider all the possible consequences of what one is planning to do

* The company needs to think through all the possibilities before deciding where

it will open the next office

to get the lay of the land – to understand the layout, organization, arrangement,

or structure of something, especially only through observation

* Working as a taxi driver really helped Khalil get the lay of the land He knows where everything is in this city

to formulate – to create something, especially to develop an idea or plan

* The consultants are going to formulate a new marketing strategy for our

menswear division

to work out – to be okay; to be successful or satisfactory, especially in an

uncertain environment

* Do you think these plans will work out even without the needed resources?

to stick (one’s) neck out – to take a risk; to do something that puts one at risk

or in danger of harm or punishment

* Why should I stick my neck out and try to help Harvey when I know he would never do the same for me?

to twist (one’s) arm – to persuade someone to do something that he or she

would prefer not to do

* Basil twisted my arm, so I agreed to be the treasurer of the parent-teacher association

to squeal on (someone) – to tattle; to report someone else’s bad behavior,

especially to the authorities

* Shane squealed on his friend, telling the principal that she had put a frog in the teacher’s desk

sense of honor – feelings of wanting to do what is noble, right, and ethical

* His sense of honor compelled him to tell the truth, even when he knew it would get him in trouble

against (one’s) better judgment – not in agreement or alignment with what one

thinks is probably right or correct; despite what one believes is correct or true

* Against my better judgment, I told Medina my secret, even though she has never been able to keep a secret in the past

Trang 3

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1 According to Carol, what are they supposed to do?

a) Keep track of what time it is

b) Call in the orders to the restaurant

c) Observe to see what happens

2 What does Miguel mean when he says, “I’m not twisting your arm”?

a) He isn’t trying to hurt Carol

b) He isn’t forcing Carol to do anything

c) He isn’t giving Carol advice

WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?

order

The word “order,” in this podcast, means a command or instruction about what one must do: “The police officers issued an order for everyone to stay inside the building until the criminal could be found.” The word “order” can also refer to the arrangement or layout of something: “Please file these papers in alphabetical order.” Or, “The important dates are listed in chronological order.” An “order” is a request for the items one wants to buy: “Where’s the order for Table 7? They’re still waiting for those pancakes.” Or, “We just received a purchase order for five new trucks.” Finally, the exclamation “Order!” is used to get people’s attention and get them to stop talking so that a meeting can begin or continue: “Order! The judge is ready to make her announcement.”

to squeal on (someone)

In this podcast, the phrase “to squeal on (someone)” means to tattle or to report someone else’s bad behavior, especially to the authorities: “Yes, I stole the books But you have to tell me who squealed on me!” Or, “If you squeal on me, I’ll never forgive you.” In other contexts, the verb “to squeal” means to make a loud, high-pitched noise: “The young girls squealed with excitement when they saw their favorite singer at a local restaurant.” Or, “’Stop doing that,’ she

squealed.” Or, “Those teenagers are doing it again, accelerating quickly so that their tires squeal on the pavement.” A “squeal” is also the sound that a pig

makes: “Why are the pigs squealing so much? Did one of the dogs get in their pen again?”

Trang 4

CULTURE NOTE

Types of Military Court-Martial

A “court-martial” is a military court that is used for lawsuits against “members of the armed services” (people who are serving in the army, navy, marines, air force, or coast guard) who are “accused” (said to have done something bad) of breaking a military law In the United States, there are three types of courts-martial: “summary,” “special,” and “general.”

A “summary court-martial” is the simplest and lowest court level It is used for

“minor” (not very important or serious) “incidents” (negative episodes or

instances of behavior) There is only one “officer” (a person who fills a particular role) and punishments are limited

The next court level is the “special court-martial,” which is used for “trials”

(lawsuits) involving more serious “offenses” (crimes; instances of breaking a law) The special court-martial has a “judge” (the person who controls the court

sessions and determines the appropriate punishment), a lawyer for each side of the case, and at least three officers who “comprise” (make up) the “jury,” or the group of people who listen to a trial and decide whether the “defendant” (the person accused of committing a crime) is “guilty” (has broken the law) or

“innocent” (has not broken the law) Punishments can include “short-term”

(temporary; lasting only a little while) “confinement” (being held in prison) of “up to” (no more than) one year or “pay cuts” (reductions in the amount of money one receives for one’s work)

A “general court-martial” is the highest court level and is used only for the most serious offenses At least five officers are on the jury Punishments can include a longer confinement, “discharge” (being forced to leave the armed services), and even death, depending on the offense

Comprehension Questions Correct Answers: 1 – c; 2 – b

Trang 5

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 1,075 – Defying Orders

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 1,075 I’m your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California I know, it’s a little crazy

Our website is ESLPod.com There’s nothing crazy about that If you go there, you can become a member of ESL Podcast How cool is that?

On this episode, we’re going to have a dialogue between Carol and Miguel about someone who doesn’t do what he is told to do – someone who defies orders Let’s get started

[start of dialogue]

Carol: Hey, where are you going?

Miguel: We can’t sit here doing nothing

Carol: We have orders to stay here and to keep watch You know as well as I do what the consequences are of defying orders

Miguel: I don’t care what kind of punishment I get I can’t sit still and let things happen without an attempt at intervention

Carol: What are you going to do, enter the fray without a plan?

Miguel: I have a plan I’m going to stop what’s going on using whatever means necessary

Carol: By doing what? Have you thought this through?

Miguel: I’ll get the lay of the land and then formulate some options Everything will work out

Carol: And I suppose you expect me to go with you, to stick my neck out, too? Miguel: That’s up to you I’m not twisting your arm

Trang 6

Carol: How do you know that if I stay here, I won’t squeal on you?

Miguel: I don’t I guess I just have to rely on your sense of honor

Carol: Oh, come on, let’s go

Miguel: You’re coming with me?

Carol: Against my better judgment!

[end of dialogue]

Carol begins our dialogue by saying, “Hey, where are you going?” Miguel says,

“We can’t sit here doing nothing.” Carol says, “We have orders to stay here and keep watch.” So, Carol is asking Miguel where he is going, and Miguel says that

he doesn’t want to just sit there and do nothing, but Carol says that the two of them “have orders.” If you say you “have orders,” you mean that someone has given you instructions – someone has told you what you are supposed to do, usually someone in authority

You can think about the military – for example, the army or the navy – where one

of the leaders will give orders to the other members of the military, telling them what to do Miguel and Carol’s orders are to keep watch The phrasal verb “to keep watch” (watch) means to monitor something – to observe something, but not to do anything or get involved with that thing

So, if you are keeping watch, for example, in front of a building, you are watching

to see what is going on, usually because you’re looking for a problem If there is

a problem, then you’re supposed to call someone else and that other person will deal with or take care of the problem Or you might be keeping watch because you are expecting someone to arrive, and the person who gave you the orders to keep watch wants you to tell him or her when the arrival takes place

Carol says, “You know as well as I do what the consequences are of defying orders.” A “consequence” is a result of something, something that happens as a result of something else There’s an old expression, “Ideas have consequences,” that means that when you have certain moral, religious, political, or ethical

opinions about things, ideas about things, those ideas often have practical results

in the real world They actually will influence the way people behave, the way people act

Trang 7

Here, Carol is talking about the consequences “of defying orders.” “To defy” (defy) means to refuse to do something, to say no to someone who has authority over you Carol reminds Miguel that there are consequences for defying orders Miguel says, “I don’t care what kind of punishment I get.” A “punishment” is a negative consequence or a negative result, usually something that you get

because you did something wrong

Miguel says, “I can’t sit still and let things happen without an intervention.” “To sit still” means to not move, to remain in one place If you are keeping watch, you may also be sitting still – that is, you’re not moving around, you’re just staying where you are But Miguel says he cannot “sit still and let things happen without

an intervention.”

An “intervention” (intervention) is the act of becoming involved in something, especially to change the process or the result of some action We could speak of

a “military intervention,” where one country sends its army or its military into another country in order to prevent something bad from happening in the other country – or at least, that’s what the normal excuse is for military interventions

We also use the term “intervention” nowadays perhaps more commonly to refer

to a situation where a person has a problem with drugs or alcohol The person’s friends and family want to tell this person to stop, to get help, and so they may put this person in a room and all of them together will talk to the person and try to convince the person to get help with his or her drug or alcohol problem That’s an

“intervention.”

Carol says, “What are you going to do? Enter the fray without a plan?” “To enter the fray” (fray) means to become involved in a fight, argument, or disagreement –

to join into a situation that is hostile, or perhaps people are yelling at each other

or even fighting physically with each other Miguel says, “I have a plan” – I have

an idea about what I’m going to do – “I’m going to stop what’s going on using whatever means necessary.”

The word “means” (means) here refers to the method, the manner, or the

approach that you use in order to get something done “Whatever means

necessary” is used in a situation where you will do anything You will do whatever

it takes in order to get the result you want to get Carol is still confused about what Miguel plans to do She asks, “By doing what?” – “What exactly are you going to do, Miguel?” she’s asking

She asks, “Have you thought this through?” “To think something through” is to think carefully about something – to think of all the possible consequences of

Trang 8

your actions, to really understand what you are doing, including what might go wrong or what problems you might face as you do this action Miguel then gives

us a little bit of his plan He says, “I’ll get the lay of the land and then formulate some options Everything will work out.”

“To get the lay (lay) of the land” means to understand the way things are

organized by looking at the situation or by looking at a particular place

Physically, “to get the lay of the land” would be to understand where everything is – where the roads are, where the streets are, where the houses are – in a given area It can be used more generally to mean to understand the way things are organized, the way an organization or business is organized, for example

Miguel says that he will “formulate some options.” The verb “to formulate”

(formulate) means to come up with or develop something, to think of something Miguel says, “Everything will work out.” If someone says, “It’s going to work out,”

he means that it’s going to be okay It’s going to be successful There aren’t going to be any problems

Carol says, “And I suppose you expect me to go with you, to stick my neck out, too?” “To stick your neck out” is an expression meaning to take a risk, to do something that might cause you harm or injury or put you in danger Miguel says,

“That’s up to you,” meaning that’s your decision; I’m not going to force you In fact, the next sentence is “I’m not twisting your arm.”

“To twist (twist) someone’s arm” is to persuade someone to do something that the person doesn’t really want to do – to force the person to do something If you can think of your arm and someone putting your arm behind your back in a

painful way, then you understand where this expression comes from “To twist someone’s arm” – to make them do something because you are pressuring them

Carol says, “How do you know that if I stay here” – if I don’t go with you – “I won’t squeal on you?” “To squeal (squeal) on” someone means to report someone’s bad behavior to someone else – to tell someone else, usually someone in

authority, about bad things that someone else has done

Miguel says, “I don’t,” meaning I don’t know if you will squeal on me or not “I guess I just have to rely” (or depend) “on your sense of honor.” A “sense of honor” (honor) is wanting to do the right thing, the ethical thing, the moral thing Carol says, “Oh, come on, let’s go.” Miguel asks, “You’re coming with me?” He’s surprised that Carol is going to go with him

Trang 9

Carol says, “Against my better judgment!” The expression “against one’s better judgment” means that you don’t agree with what this person is saying or what this person wants to do, but you’re going to do it anyway You’re going to go

“against your better judgment” – against your own reason, against the logic in your own mind, and instead, you’re going to do what this person wants you to do Now let’s listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed