Episode 3 - The Ball Is in Your Court === Pat: [00:00:00] Hello and welcome to English with Pat and Pops. I'm Pat... Pops: I'm Pops... Pat: And we're talking to you from Boynton Beach, Florida. Uh, what's the weather like today, Pops? Pops: Ah, it's another beautiful day in south Florida. It's sunny and uh, about 75 degrees, about 23 Celsius, uh, winds out of the north, about seven miles per hour. Pat: Oh, great. Pops: Yeah. Pat: Lovely day. Pops: Beautiful day. Pat: Yeah. Pops: Another beautiful one. Yeah. Pat: Yeah. We brought all the good weather with us to, uh, south Florida here. Pops: Yeah. Let it... let's hope it continues. Uh, keeps on coming. Pat: I'm sure it will. Pops: Yeah. Pat: Um, so let's get into, we're going to introduce a new segment. Um, our word of the week. Pops: Ah, yes. I like this. Uh, I like this segment. Pat: Yeah. Pops: Thinking about it for a long time. Pat: Yeah. This was Pop's idea. Pops: Yeah. Pat: And, um, so every week we'll give you a, a new word, give you a little explanation about it, and uh, we'll post it up on social media so you can check it out. Um, so what's the word this week, Pops? Pops: Gaslighting. Pat: Ooh, gaslighting. Pops: The meaning... manipulating someone to make them question their own sanity or [00:01:00] reality. Pat: Hmm. Yeah. And this is, um, this is a word that's coming to popularity quite a bit recently. Pops: Recently. Mm-hmm. Pat: Yeah, more recently. Um, this was one I, I had never heard of it, you know, say even 10 years ago. But, um, nowadays you hear it a lot in the context of relationships. Pops: Yes. Pat: You hear like one partner's gaslighting the other. Pops: Right. Pat: Right? Pops: Yeah. Pat: And it's sort of this idea of manipulation. Um, in order to gain power or control over your partner. Pops: Right, to get them to change their views or their ideas about certain things. Uh, to come around to your way of thinking, I think it is. Pat: Yeah. Pops: Right. Pat: Yeah and just basically live in the reality you construct for them. Pops: Right. Pat: So yeah, it's a little bit of a complex idea, but... Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: ... you know. Pops: Yeah. Pat: You hear it all the time now, so... Pops: You do hear it much more than I've ever heard it, uh, now. Pat: Yeah and hopefully none of our listeners are involved in it. It's not, not a nice thing. Pops: Yeah, we pro... prohibit gaslighting. Pat: Yeah, that's right. Um, yeah, so that's today's word of the week and we [00:02:00] will, we'll throw that up on, um, yeah, Instagram and our social media, so you could take another look at it. Pops: Okay. Sounds good, yeah. Pat: Okay, so let's get into today's episode. Um, we're gonna be talking about Brittney Griner. Pops: Mm, yes. Pat: Um, she's been in the news a lot lately, right? Pops: Yeah. It's, uh, it's all over the place from different facets. There's so many different, uh, that's what makes this interesting, uh, about the, you know, the original, uh, arrest. And stop, you know, that she was stopped in the airport coming into the country and things like that. Pat: Yeah. Pops: There's just so many different areas that this has taken on a life. Pat: Yeah. So she's... recently, she's in the news because there was just this prisoner exchange. So, um, you know, I'm not sure if our listeners know about that or not. Um, but it's been making a, a bit of international news. But I'll start and just sort of introduce who she is. Why she was in Russia. Pops: Yeah. Pat: And then we'll get into more recent news, yeah? Pops: Okay. Pat: Um, so she's a professional basketball player. She plays here in the [00:03:00] States, um, for a team in Phoenix, I believe. Pops: Mm. Pat: And she's pretty good at what she does, yeah? Pops: Yeah, I think she's done pretty well for herself here as far as winning and her winning percent and possible championships here in the WNBA, so, yeah. Pat: Yeah, I know she, she's made a lot of all-star teams. She's won gold medals in the Olympics and with her team, so yeah, she's a good player. But, um, so the reason she was in Russia, which Pops and I didn't know why she was there either. We'd heard about this story for a few months and didn't really even think to look into why, what she was doing in Russia. Pops: Yeah. I actually thought it was one of those traveling ambassador things, you know, for the WNBA before I started reading into... Pat: Ah, doing promotion. Pops: Promotional activity. Yeah. So... Pat: Yeah. Um, but in fact she plays in a, a women's league in Russia. Pops: Yes. Pat: A basketball league in the off-season. Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: Um, because women don't make a lot of money here in the WNBA. Pops: Comparatively, yeah. Pat: Yeah. Pops: So, yeah. Pat: Compared to other professional athletes, say for [00:04:00] men or... Pops: Yeah. Pat: ...you know, yeah, compared to men, really. Pops: Compared to men. Yeah. They don't, they don't make the same dollars that, uh, that professional men basketball players would make. Pat: Yeah. Pops: Definitely. Pat: Yeah. So she, she goes over to Russia and, and a lot of, a lot of women do to supplement and make some money in the off-season. So she landed there in February and she was arrested in the airport in Moscow airport for possession of cannabis oil. Pops: Yeah. Pat: In her luggage. Pops: Yeah. Supposedly the dogs did a sweep on her luggage and picked her up. Pat: Yeah. Pops: Yeah, picked her up that way and stopped her. Pat: Those dogs have some good noses. Pops: They definitely did, yeah, for the, for what she got caught for. Pat: Yeah. Pops: They had some real good noses. Pat: Right. What was the, how much did she have on her? How much liquid? Pops: Uh, it was like 0.425 is what I read in a couple of papers. Pat: Yeah, so a little less than half a gram, right? Pops: Yes. Yeah. 0.425 grams. Pat: Yeah and it's, it's basically just an oil that you put in an electronic cigarette. Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: And you smoke it. Pops: Tiny amount. Pat: Yeah. Pops: I mean, in com... you know, in reality it's a very small amount. Pat: Clearly for personal use. Pops: Yes. Pat: That's, that's the big thing. Pops: Uh, you're, you're [00:05:00] not doing anything else nefarious or anything else. Yeah, right. Pat: Yeah. So, yeah, she got arrested in February of this year, and she pleaded guilty, didn't deny the charges. Um, she pleaded guilty to drug possession and smuggling. And then, um, the Russian courts sentenced her to nine years in prison for this. Pops: Harsh sentence. Pat: Yeah. Pops: Uh, very harsh sentence for what she did. Pat: I mean, that's putting it lightly. Pops: Yeah. I, I, it really is. I mean, considering that the, that um, this woman went through nine months before the sentence was finally... roughly nine, ten months, right? Pat: Well, she was ten months in prison. Pops: Prison, yeah. Ten months in waiting, yeah, before... oh, okay. Yeah, ten months in prison. I guess that's that. Pat: Yeah, she just got out recently. That was ten months. Before the sentencings happened it was, you know, four or five months I'd say, about that. Pops: Four or five, okay. Yeah, yeah. Pat: Yeah. She had waited a... a long time. Pops: Right. Pat: Um, so yeah, so she pleaded guilty. And then just recently, this is, you know, the news that you know, maybe some of you have heard is on [00:06:00] December 8th she was part, she was released as part of a deal with a... a Russian arms dealer. Um, so there was a Russian arms dealer named Victor Bout. Pops: Yes. Pat: He was in prison in the United States and he was swapped for her freedom. Pops: Right. Pat: Um, out of the Russian pris... prison, right? Pops: Right, right. Yeah. They, they trade, swap, whatever you want to call it in this particular case. Pat: Yeah. Pops: Which, that's where the controversy comes in. I, I say a lot of the controversy that you're here today, so... Pat: Yeah. I think, I think it's, it's mainly regarding first her, her sentence, which is, is an extreme sentence to... Pops: Yes. Pat: ...you know, nine years in prison for this small amount of, of marijuana. Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: Um, and that's sort of where the idea of her being a political pawn and this all sort of being a, a scheme from Russia to try to gain leverage, uh, on the United, over the United States and get one of these.... So this guy Victor Bout for example, he's a, an arms dealer [00:07:00] and he was convicted on, on charges of terrorism and, you know, and what, what would actually, what did you say Pops was his nickname? Pops: The Merchant of Death, which is pretty, pretty intense. Pretty uh, pretty disgusting term. Pat: Yeah. Pops: Yeah. Pat: So I, you know, clearly not a good guy. Pops: No... bad guy and, uh, and wanted in many countries by my understanding. Pat: Yeah. Pops: Or was wanted in many countries, I don't know, so... Pat: Yeah. That, yeah, that was, that's, that's true. And, um, so these two were swapped. Um, so that, that sort of... a lot of the criticism and, um, this is making a lot of news because, you know, on one hand you have an arms dealer, somebody selling weapons to countries just for profit... Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: ...being traded for a professional athlete. Pops: A professional athlete, a celebrity with 0.425 grams of a cannabis substance that in a lot of the world, I think is legal. Pat: Yeah. Pops: To, you know, or... Pat: Sure at least where she comes from in the States it's legal. Pops: Yeah. Right. Pat: In many states. Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: [00:08:00] Um, so what, what would you say Pops? Is this a, is this a fair trade? Pops: It seems like it's one-sided, a one-sided trade in, not in the favor of the United States. Pat: Yeah. Pops: So, yeah. Pat: Yeah I mean, if we, if we strip away the countries from it and just look at it for, on face value. Pops: Right. If, yeah, I think it would be unfair no matter where it was, based on what happened. Uh, if you put a, a similar celebrity, uh, you know, with the, with the same type of, you know, uh, situation, it would definitely be, uh, it was a one-sided trade. Pat: Yeah. Pops: For me, in favor of the, you know... Pat: Yeah, absolutely. Pops: ...the merchants of death. Pat: Yeah. Pops: So, yeah. Pat: And, um, you know, I, I, I... Pops and I are both glad she got out of prison, of course. Pops: Absolutely. We wanna reiterate that. I mean, we're all happy that she was out of, you know, prison and she came home, so yeah, absolutely. Pat: Yeah. Yeah, definitely happy, you know, she got out of there and, and got out of her extreme sentence. Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: But, um, the, [00:09:00] the trade itself seems a little crazy. Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: When you just... Pops: Yeah. Pat: ...take it for what it is. Pops: Yeah. Pat: Um, and, and I guess one of the, the more interesting parts about it and, and sort of the, the reason why, um, you know, you're a little skeptical about it is because do you think maybe in the future other countries could use this tactic, not necessarily against the United States, but against, you know, any other country to say if they have someone traveling who's of importance, whether they're famous, whether, you know, whatever it might be... to try to trip them up on something in order to, you know, leverage them? Pops: Absolutely. Pat: Right. Pops: I, I, you can see this going bad many different ways as, as, uh, people would, uh, countries may take this as an example. People that have bad intentions could use it, uh, as a, even if it doesn't work for them in the long run, you could see this being a problem. You know, where someone gets stopped at an airport, celebrity, somebody else, soccer, tennis player, [00:10:00] whatever. Pat: Yeah. Pops: You know? Pat: Yeah. That's sort of the, the scariest part about setting this sort of precedent. Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: That, um, you know, it, it's, it's easy for countries to sort of manipulate, uh, or governments to manipulate other governments and just use the social pressure of a, a nation... Pops: Yeah. Pat: ...to get what they want. So just a word to any of our celebrity listeners. Um, don't travel with your cannabis oil. Pops: Yeah, please, uh, check your luggage, empty your pockets, whatever you did... wherever you're carrying this stuff. Pat: Yeah. Pops: Get rid of it. Pat: Yeah, clean it up out there. Um, so, yeah, and, and I guess sort of a side topic to this is, is just that she got stopped... that Brittney Griner got arrested for this really, you know, really small amount of, of drugs, right? Pops: Right. Yeah. Pat: And it sort of, it makes you think like, you know, she has to be careful going to a foreign country. You have to know their laws. Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: But, you know, what are your thoughts just as far as people traveling? Like do [00:11:00] you think in the future, do you see, you know, on a global scale, sort of these personal drugs for personal use being more accepted or you think...? Pops: I, you know, I don't, I don't know that the acceptance will be greater. I just think they'll be more of a wary... aware... awareness to not bring them into the countries, you know. I think, I think it'll, the awareness on the side of the person traveling that may use the, these things. And, and, uh, maybe a lot greater. The thing is, uh, the thing is with a lot of this, uh, particular, um, substance she was using, a lot of people use this for pain relief. So it's not, it's very common here to use... in the United States to use as a pain relief medication. Uh, a lot of cancer patients use it, things like that. So it's, it has multiple uses for, for good uses. It's not just to necessarily get high or anything else. Pat: For recreation, yeah. Pops: Yeah, it's not recreational, I guess you'd say, yeah. Pat: Yeah and that's what sort of... the fact that, you know, [00:12:00] marijuana's becomes this medicine, you know, I guess it was always used that way, but in more recent times, it's become, um, accepted more in the medical community... Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: ...as like pain relief, right? So it, it's sort of, it, it's such a peculiar situation because you have a woman who traveled abroad, and I don't, I don't think her personal cannabis oil was for medic... uh, medicinal purposes. Pops: Yeah. Pat: But you know, in theory you could have had someone traveling with what they thought was medicine sentenced to nine years in prison and then ultimately it leads to an arms dealer getting out of prison... Pops: Getting out of prison... Pat: ...just seems... Pops: ...seems kind of bizarre. Pat: Yeah. Pops: It seems like, what reality are we living in here? Yeah. Pat: Yeah. It seems like the writing's on the wall that this, you know, making this move on, on Russia's part was definitely a political play. Pops: Yes. Pat: Right. Pops: Yeah. Again, we, you know, you go to, uh, kind of put in the background the Ukraine situation is going, you know, she is arrested a [00:13:00] week later, the Ukraine war starts. Pat: Yeah. Pops: Uh, you know, so all of this is part... Pat: The timing is suspect. Pops: Yes, it is. Pat: Yeah. Pops: And, and the other thing that kind of made it here is that the government was getting a lot of pressure internally from US citizens to push for the release of this... Pat: Brittney... Pops: ...of Brittney Griner. Pat: Yeah. Pops: Of Britney Griner. So there was pressure from internally and, you know... Pat: Yeah. Pops: ...externally. So yeah, it was just a lot of things, moving parts, a lot of moving parts we'd say here to this story. Pat: Yeah. Pops: So... Pat: Definitely, you know, reached a, for Britney, a somewhat favorable conclusion, but, um, something that, you know, you, I think ten years ago you wouldn't have expected to hear. Pops: Yeah. Pat: This sort of news, like... Pops: No, you would've expected to hear it more on a, uh, spy swap or, uh... Pat: Right. Pops: You know, um, there was a, a, a movie that was out a few years ago, bridge of uh... Pat: Spies. Pops: Bridge of Spies, which was a very, very... Pat: Tom Hanks. Pops: Tom Hanks movie. Yeah and it was a very... Pat: And that was the Soviet, [00:14:00] that was Russia and the US too, right?. Pops: Russia and the US. It was, uh, Gary Powers, the U2 pilot was one of the people swapped for it. That was shot down over Russia. And so, uh, and you know, a spy that they had, uh, the US had. Pat: Yeah. Pops: So they were swapped out. But this is different. Pat: Well, yeah, that was, I mean, the, the trades, the swaps of old were, like you said, they were, you know, based around like foreign intelligence and covert operations and, and spies and espionage and that sort of thing. And now it just felt like with this, you have, um, you know, this, this swap taking place just because one society, um, was yelling loud enough at home to their government saying, get this person out of there. And it wasn't really done in a strategic way. Pops: Right. Pat: Right? Pops: Yeah. It was the... it does, it just seems like this, you could say it broke new ground in a bad way. Pat: Yeah. Pops: You know, I think it was where this is going. Is not, not, I don't think this is [00:15:00] gonna be good for anybody long term. Pat: Yeah. I, I think it sets a pretty bad precedent, but... Pops: Yeah. Yeah. Pat: Um, it's what happened, so... Pops: Yeah. Pat: Um, well anyway, Pops. Yeah, I guess the, the big, the moral the story is keep your marijuana pens at home. Pops: I keep 'em at home all the time. Oh, sorry. Shouldn't have said that. But anyway. Pat: Hey I didn't know you had one. Got to share that thing, man. Pops: Few secrets of it... Pat: Yeah. Pops: Okay. Pat: Alright. Well that's, uh, that wraps up everything on, uh, Brittney Griner for today. Um, let's get into the idioms part of today's episode. Pops: One of my favorite sections here too. Pat: Yeah. And so today's, today's first idiom is very fitting. It's um, also the title of our episode... um, do you have that one in front of you? Pops: Ah, yes. Uh, the ball is in your court. Pat: Yeah. The ball is in your court. And what does that one mean? Pops: It's up to you. Pat: It means it's up to you, it's your decision. Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: Right? Pops: Yes. Pat: Yeah. So if we role play that one, let's say we're a couple of friends. Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: And we have plans to hit the beach tomorrow down here [00:16:00] in South Florida, yeah? Pops: Yeah. Pat: And, but I, but your work calls and asks, wants to see if you're available to come in, okay? Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: So, uh, hey Pops, um, you know, I, I, I know you had that call from work and we were, had plans to go to the beach and, um, you know, I don't really want to go alone. So the ball's in your court as to whether or not we go. Pops: Uh, yes, I, you know what I'm thinking about this. I've been, uh, you know, I wanna go to the beach. You know? Pat: You do want to go? Pops: Yeah. I want to go. I'll blow off work. You know, I, I'm working too hard these days. Pat: Work on our tans. Pops: These podcasts are tough. Pat: Yeah, true. Yeah, so that's, that's the ball is in your court. It's just giving, letting someone know that they're the ones making the decision, right? Pops: Yes. Mm-hmm. Pat: Yeah. Pops: Right. Pat: And I'd say that that one is common. Um, it's not, you know, the most common idiom, but it's certainly used, um, very frequently. And there's no surprise if someone says that you... Pops: No. Pat: You just know immediately it's up to you. Pops: You know immediately [00:17:00] it's up to you. Yeah. Pat: Yeah. So if we move on to the second one, um, that one is cool as a cucumber. Pops: Ah... Pat: So what does that mean? Pops: Calm and composed. Pat: Yeah. Calm, cool. Pops: Yeah. Pat: Very, yeah. Pops: Yeah. Pat: You're, you're composed, you got things together. Pops: You're relaxed in this situation. Pat: Yeah. So if we role play that one. Let's say I am your husband and you're my wife. Pops: Hi dear. Pat: Hey, sweetie. Um, so let's say that you have a, an interview, um, for a new job today. It's the morning. We're just waking up. You got a, you got an interview, right? Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: Um, so hey, hey, honey. Um, you know, make sure you, you dress well and you give off a good im... uh, first impression with everyone and, and for your first day today. Pops: You don't need to worry, honey. I'm cool as a cucumber. Pat: Oh, good. I know you are. That's why I married you. Pops: Oh, yes. Well luck, you're lucky... you're a lucky guy. Pat: Yeah. So, uh, oh, let's put an end to that. Uh, [00:18:00] um, so yeah, that's, that's cool as a cucumber, it just means you're cool, you're calm. Um, and I don't know where that, where a cucumber comes into it or why it's, it's said this way, but it's, you know... Pops: Yeah, maybe one of our listeners will shoot us a line. Pat: Ah, yeah. There you go. Oh man. Now we're getting carried away. Pops: Yeah. Pat: Um so, yeah, it's just, it's just, it's really to add emphasis, you know? Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: In a situation like that, you can just say, hey, yeah, I'm, I'm cool. I got it under control. But... Pops: Yeah. Pat: ...if you add that little extra, it's... Pops: It just adds a little bit... extra feeling to it that you, uh, you really have it down. Pat: Yeah. Pops: Yeah. Pat: Yeah, so that one, I'd say is fairly common. A little bit less common than the ball is in your court. Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: Just because of, like I said before, it's very, it's just to, to pile on as we say, to add a little bit more and let somebody know that you are composed. Pops: Right. Pat: Yeah. Pops: Yeah. Pat: So the third one, do you have that in front of you, the third idiom? Pops: Oh yeah, I do. Uh, by the skin of your teeth. Pat: Yeah, by the skin of your [00:19:00] teeth. And what does that mean? Pops: Barely. Pat: Barely. Pops: Just barely making it in there. Pat: Yeah, just barely. Pops: Yeah. Pat: Okay. So if we role play that one, let's say we don't know each other, we're a couple of strangers... Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: ...and I am waiting for the train to come and as it pulls into the station, you come up, you're running and you're outta breath. Pops: Boy... Pat: And um, hey man, uh, is, is everything okay? What's going on? Pops: Whew, man, I'm, I was, I got stuck in traffic. Uh, my god. Just got stopped back there. Barely could buy my ticket in time. And the doors were closing. I barely, just by the skin of my teeth, made it in the train doors. Pat: Oh, okay good. I'm glad you made it. Pops: Me too. I gotta get to work. Woof... Pat: Well, you made it. Pops: Yeah. Pat: Um, yeah, so that's, that was good. That was good acting. Uh, so that's by the skin of your teeth. Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: Um, and yeah, so that one means just barely Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: Right and it's, uh, the sort of imagery there is, you know, teeth don't really have skin, but it's [00:20:00] something very thin. Pops: Yeah. Pat: You know, you just made it. Pops: You just, just, just made it. Yeah. Very close. Pat: And so that one I would put at like a less common. Pops: Yeah. That, that one is rare. Pat: Yeah. Pops: Very rare. Pat: It's really, really to emphasize in a specific situation that you, you know, you just got there. Pops: Yeah. Pat: You just made it. Pops: Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's gotta be just a almost another one is a close shave. Pat: Yeah, close shave, yeah. Um, so yeah, that, that wraps up the idioms. Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: Um, we wanna thank everyone for listening, of course, um, and let you know, patandpops.com is now live, our website. Um, we have, um, a little bit about us there. If you want to check out, uh, read up on us a little bit. Um, we have links to all of our social media. We have, of course, our transcripts to text there. And one cool thing that we introduced is, um, if you click on the descript link, um, next to any... either of the first two episodes, or this episode [00:21:00] after today, um, that'll let you listen to the episode while reading along, but you get the text highlighted as we say every word. So it's just... Pops: That's a really cool feature, yeah. Pat: Yeah, it's real time and it, it'll highlight it for you and you know, you can listen on your mobile or your laptop, you know, if you're on the way to work, whatever. Pops: Right. Pat: And well, yeah, as long as you're not driving and you're, you know... Pops: Yeah, you're on train. Pat: Yeah. Pops: Bus... Pat: On the train, whatever it is. Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: Um, so yeah, we just rolled that out. Come visit us on social media after this episode. We'll, we'll post some, at least the word of the week and start, um, getting some more stuff out there and as always, please send us your questions, your comments, episode suggestions, all of that, uh, you can do on our website on our contact page, or directly to info@patandpops.com, right? Pops: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And one, one extra benefit, uh, that Pat didn't highlight here is a lot of you been... talked to me about, you know, how professional Pat's voice is, and, uh, now you get to see a [00:22:00] picture. He's online, he's out there. So yeah, you get to, you get, get to see the, uh, the face to the voice. Pat: Yeah. Well, I hope it, um, doesn't disappoint. Pops: No, no. I'm, they're telling me your voice just sounds great. Pat: Oh, wow. Pops: Man, you're just, uh, you're smooth. Pat: It's all done in post-production, don't worry. It's not my voice... I, I make myself sound pretty cool. But, uh, anything else, to add? Pops: No, that's it. Pat: Okay. Pops: I just wanna say, uh, oh! I do want to, uh, give a shout out to Elias and, uh, Elias gave us some really good comments about the, uh... the podcast and things like that. And Mathias checked out our, uh, website also today and, uh, cuz I happened to be talking to him. So, appreciate you guys' positive comments. And we, uh... Pat: Cool... Pops: ...wanted to say thanks. Pat: Yea, thanks guys, and thanks everyone for listening, yeah? Pops: Okay. Pat: All right, we'll catch you next time. Pops: Bye. Pat: Bye.