Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 1051, Getting and Making Threats.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 1051.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
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This episode is a dialogue between Ruth and Carl about threats things you say to someone that involve hurting them or harming them in some way.
Let's get started.
I'm really glad you're getting so much support from the public.
Look at all of these bags of fan mail.
Only about half of that is fan mail.
The rest is hate mail.
Hate mail?
Who would send you hate mail?
Lots of people.
People who are disgruntled write to me about their grievances.
Really?
Don't look so surprised.
We've gotten bomb threats, and I've even received a few death threats.
Death threats?
Aren't you worried about your personal safety?
Not really.
Most people are just venting, and others are trying to intimidate me.
I'm not going to buckle under just because I get a few letters.
But it only takes one mentally unbalanced person to carry through on threats.
Have you considered getting a bodyguard?
No, I don't need any protection.
I just need to keep plugging away and getting things done.
What?
A bulletproof vest.
Our dialogue begins with Ruth saying to Carl I'm really glad you're getting so much support from the public.
Look at all these bags of fan mail.
A fan F-A-N here refers to a person who likes a certain thing or a certain other person, usually a famous person.
You can be a fan of a sport like baseball or soccer.
Fan mail refers to letters that a famous person typically receives from people who like that person, who admire that person, who say nice things about that person.
Carl says only about half of that is fan mail.
The rest is hate mail.
Hate, H-A-T-E, mail, are letters that express anger or disgust for a person.
If you really don't like a person, you might send them hate mail.
Though I don't think you should.
Hate, of course, is feeling of anger and of Dislike for another person, a very strong feeling of that.
Hate mail is something that celebrities, famous people, get as well as fan mail.
Ruth is surprised.
She says hate mail.
Who would send you hate mail?
Carl says lots of people.
People who are disgruntled write to me about their grievances.
To be disgruntled D-I-S-G-R-U-N-T-L-E-D means to be upset, to be unhappy about some situation or dissatisfied with something.
Grievances G-R-I-E-V-A-N-C-E-S are complaints, statements or descriptions of something you don't like, some problem that you're having.
The word grievance is somewhat more formal than complaint.
Ruth says, really?
Again, she's surprised.
Carl says, don't look so surprised, meaning don't be surprised.
We've gotten bomb threats, and I've even received a few death threats.
A threat, T-H-R-E-A-T, is a statement that you are going to hurt someone or harm someone.
It's a warning that you are going to do something bad to another person.
Sometimes people use threats to prevent people from doing things.
If you do X, I will hurt you.
You're trying to prevent them from doing something by threatening them.
A bomb threat is when someone says that they are planting an explosive device.
A bomb that may go off, may explode and hurt or even kill people.
Death threats are when people say I'm going to kill you, when they tell someone that they will be murdered.
Basically,
Unfortunately, there are people in the world that do that sort of thing.
Ruth is again very surprised.
She says, Aren't you worried about your personal safety?
Personal, P-E-R-S-O-N-A-L, safety, refers to the risk of you being injured or even killed.
If you go into certain parts of American cities at night, you might fear for your personal safety.
You may fear that someone will hurt you or even kill you.
The best thing is to stay away from those places.
Carl, however, is not worried about his personal safety.
He says, most people are just venting and others are trying to intimidate me.
To vent V-E-N-T here means to express one's frustrations or dissatisfaction, to say a lot of things that may or may not be true, but it makes you feel better if you say it, if you complain about a certain thing.
Sometimes when people get angry, they just need to vent.
They just need to get all of that anger out by saying things that they don't like, even if some of those things aren't really true.
Carl says these people who write hate mail and send him hate mail are just venting.
Others, however, are trying to intimidate him.
To intimidate I-N-T-I-M-I-D-A-T-E means to make someone feel frightened or inferior by showing that you are bigger or better or smarter than that person.
If someone intimidates you, that person makes you feel afraid and perhaps even for your personal safety.
Carl says I'm not going to buckle under just because I got a few letters.
The phrasal verb to buckle B-U-C-K-L-E under means to fail to support yourself in some way or to fail to continue doing what you were doing because you felt pressure, or perhaps because you were intimidated.
To buckle under means to agree to do something also that you don't want to do, but you are forced to do it.
You are pressured to do it.
Carl says he's not going to buckle under just because he got a few letters.
Ruth says, but it only takes one mentally unbalanced person to carry through on threats.
Mentally unbalanced refers to someone who has some sort of mental illness, someone who is a bit crazy, quite frankly.
To carry through on something is a phrasal verb meaning to follow a plan through to completion, to do something from start to finish, to actually do what you say you're going to do.
Ruth is afraid that some mentally unbalanced person is going to carry through on these threats is going to actually harm Carl.
Ruth asks, have you considered, have you thought about getting a bodyguard?
A bodyguard B-O-D-Y-G-U-A-R-D is a person whose job it is to provide security for another person, to keep another person safe.
Some of you may remember a movie with Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston called The Bodyguard, about a famous singer's bodyguard name.
Was a horrible movie, but if you saw it, you know what I mean.
Carl then says, no, I don't need any protection.
Protection is anything that keeps you away from danger or that prevents you from being hurt.
Carl says, I just need to keep plugging away and getting things done.
To plug P-L-U-G away means to continue to do something, especially to continue to do something that may not seem important, that you may have to do over and over again, but that has to be done.
We often use this phrasal verb when we're doing something that isn't very interesting or perhaps even very difficult, but has to be done.
You plug away at it.
Ruth then says Carl says, Ruth says A vest.
V-E-S-T is a piece of clothing you wear like a jacket, except it doesn't have any arms.
Technically, it doesn't have any sleeves, which are the parts of a shirt or jacket that cover your arms.
A bullet, B-U-L-L-E-T, is a small piece of metal that is fired from a gun.
Bullet proof B-U-L-L-E-T-P-R-O-O-F means that Whatever it is will prevent a bullet from, in this case, going into your body.
A bulletproof vest is worn by police officers and other people in case someone tries to shoot them.
The vest will stop the bullet.
It will make sure the bullet doesn't enter into the body of the person.
You can also have bulletproof glass, very thick glass that even if you shot a bullet at it would not break.
Most banks in Los Angeles, for example, have bulletproof glass.
In order to talk to someone, you have to talk to someone who's on the other side of the bulletproof glass.
They don't wear bulletproof vests in the bank, I don't think.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
I'm really glad you're getting so much support from the public.
Look at all of these bags of fan mail.
Only about half of that is fan mail.
The rest is hate mail.
Hate mail?
Who would send you hate mail?
Lots of people.
People who are disgruntled write to me about their grievances.
Really?
Don't look so surprised.
We've gotten bomb threats, and I've even received a few death threats.
Death threats?
Aren't you worried about your personal safety?
Not really.
Most people are just venting, and others are trying to intimidate me.
I'm not going to buckle under just because I get a few letters.
But it only takes one mentally imbalanced person to carry through on threats.
Have you considered getting a bodyguard?
No, I don't need any protection.
I just need to keep plugging away and getting things done.
I finally know what to get you for your birthday.
What?
A bulletproof vest.
Our scriptwriter gets only fan mail.
Never hate mail.
I speak, of course, of the wonderful Dr. Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us again right here on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2014 by the Center for Educational Development.
