Complete Transcript
You’re listening to ESL Podcast’s English Café number 461.
This is English as a Second Language Podcast’s English Café episode 461. I’m your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
On this Café, we’re going to talk about the basic rules of a very popular sport in the United States (and now in other countries as well): basketball. We’ll also talk about something called “flea markets,” which are outdoor places to find interesting things to buy. And, as always, we’ll answer a few of your questions. Let’s get started.
Our topic today is the sport of basketball. Basketball, at least what is given that name here in the United States, was invented in 1891 by Dr. James Naismith. Now, Naismith was a physical education teacher – what we called, when I was in school, a “gym (gym) teacher” – at the YMCA training school in Springfield, Massachusetts. Massachusetts is in the eastern part of the U.S. – on the East Coast of the United States.
Dr. Naismith worked at a school and wanted a way for his students to get some exercise during the cold winter months. It gets very cold and snowy in the northern states of the U.S. during the winter. Dr. Naismith wanted a way for his students to exercise during the winter, which meant doing something indoors, doing something inside of a building. So, what he did is he found a soccer ball and two baskets. A “basket” is a container that is used to put things in and transport them. These were peach containers. “Peaches” are a type of fruit.
Dr. Naismith nailed the baskets to the wall of the gymnasium – that is, he put the baskets up high in the walls of the gymnasium – and then explained these new rules for this new game to his students. The students had to, of course, put the ball into the basket in order to get a point. Well, the game changed (the basket changed, for example, as did the ball) but that was the basic idea of basketball, and at least here in the U.S., that’s how we explain its development – through the story of Dr. James Naismith.
Forty-five years later, in 1946, the National Basketball Association began making basketball a professional sport. This meant that athletes would be paid to play the game. Today, basketball is one of the most popular sports in the United States. It’s not the most popular. Professional football, according to recent polls, or surveys, is the most popular sport in the U.S., followed by professional baseball. Basketball comes after football and baseball in popularity.
Now, in the game of basketball there are, as you may know, two groups, or two teams, of five people. Each team plays against the other. Both men and women play basketball, but to avoid switching back and forth between “he” and “she,” I’m going to simply say “he.” But we’re talking about both men and women, both boys and girls. The players on the teams try to throw a ball called – are you ready for this – a “basketball” into something called a “basketball hoop.” The hoop replaced the old peach baskets that Dr. Naismith used.
A “hoop” is basically a round piece of metal. It’s 18 inches across. That would be about 46 centimeters. The basket hoop has strings on it, and these strings form what is called the “net” (net). The hoop with the net is mounted on, or attached to, a large board, and that net and hoop are placed ten feet above the ground at both ends of the playing area. We call the playing area the “basketball court” (court).
When a player puts the ball through the hoop, that’s called getting, or making, a basket, which is how you score points in basketball. You get either two or three points when you put the ball through the hoop, depending on where you are on the basketball court. In basketball, throwing the ball toward the hoop is called “shooting” the ball. We say the player “shoots” (shoots) the ball, or we may say that he “makes a shot” (shot).
During the regular part of the game, putting the ball through the hoop is called a “field goal” (field goal). But there are other parts of the game where the same action of putting the ball through the hoop is called something different, and I’ll talk about that in a minute. Basketball, then, is played on a rectangular court which has a basketball hoop on either end. The court – at least nowadays, the official court size is 94 feet long and 50 feet wide. So, it’s longer than it is wide – or if you prefer, 28.65 meters long and 15.24 meters wide.
In the middle of the basketball court, there is a white line that stretches across the width of the court. This line divides the court in half – that is, into two sections – and it tells a team which basket it must shoot the ball into in order to score points. You can’t just put it into any basket. You need to put it into your team’s basket – or the basket, I should say, that will give your team points. It also tells the team which basket it must try to stop the other team from shooting into.
When one of the five players on the team has the ball and is trying to score, we say that player is on the “offense” (offense). When the team is protecting their basket, trying to stop the other team from shooting the ball, we say that they are on “defense” (defense). So, offense is when you or your team has possession, or control, of the ball – that is, when one of your players has the ball – and defense is when the other team has possession of the ball.
Five people play at one time for a team, but there are also extra players, usually, that sit on what is called the “side” of the court. These extra players can be substituted in for the players on the court. “Substituted” means that they are put into the game in place of one of the players who was already playing the game. Obviously, the game stops for a minute, giving the person time to go out onto the court and the other person to sit down. This is called a “time-out.”
When you watch a basketball game, it may look like all five of the players on each team are basically doing the same thing – running around trying to get the ball or trying to move the ball from one end of the court to the other – but like most sports, each player on a basketball team actually has his own role, his own position.
The tallest player on the team usually plays the position of “center.” His job is to score points and usually stands near the basket so that the other players can throw him the ball and he can in turn make what we call a “field goal” – that is, put the ball through the hoop. The center is also supposed to protect his team’s basket to prevent the other team from scoring. In the National Basketball Association here in the U.S., the NBA, the men who play center are often very tall. I mean, they’re more than seven feet tall, which would be 2.1 meters.
The next-tallest players on the team usually play the position of “forward.” There are two forwards. The forwards try to score when they have the ball close to the basket. They also, like the center, try to block the other team’s players when they have the ball and are shooting it. “To block” (block) is when a player stands close to another player from the other team and uses his hands to hit the ball after the other player has thrown it. The idea here is to prevent the other player from making a field goal and, therefore, from scoring points.
Typically, the shortest players on the team play the position of the “guard” (guard). Even though they are the shortest players on the team, guards in the NBA are usually still rather tall – over six feet tall, typically. On the basketball court, there is another white line that goes around the basket in what we would call a “half-circle.” This is called the “three-point line.”
If a player shoots, or throws the ball, from outside of the three-point line into the basket successfully, he scores not two points, but three points. If he is inside of the line when he shoots, he only gets two points. If he is outside of the three-point line, he gets, logically, three points. This is called the “three-point field goal,” or simply the “three-pointer.” “The three-pointer” was not originally part of the rules of basketball. It was only adopted by professional teams in the 1960s and 1970s, and eventually, college and high school teams started to use the rule also in the 1970s.
However, when I played basketball in school – and yes, I was a basketball player, which I’ll tell you about later – there were no three-point shots. All the baskets, all the field goals, were two points. That’s how old I am. I played basketball before the three-point rule in the 1970s. Well, actually I played in the 1970s, but I was not very old. I remember the days, in other words, before the three-pointers, when men were men, and women were men, too. No, that’s not right.
Anyway, normally when a player shoots the ball through the hoop, it is called a “field goal,” and as I mentioned, he gets two or three points depending on where he is on the court. But sometimes players are allowed to shoot alone, standing still – not moving – and without anyone from the other team trying to block the ball. This is called a “free throw.” A player is allowed to shoot a free throw when the player has been “fouled.”
“To be fouled” (fouled) means that a player from the other team has touched or hit the player in a way that is not allowed. The players are not allowed to touch each other. It’s not like football where you try to hit the other person. In basketball, you’re not supposed to hit the other person, and if you do, that is called a “foul.” And when you do that, the player that you have fouled gets to throw a free throw. He gets to stand on a line and throw the ball into the basket. If he is successful, he gets one point, not two or three points.
There are actually two kinds of fouls. The first is called a “defensive foul.” This is when a player from the team that doesn’t have the ball hits, pushes, or somehow holds onto a player from the team that does have the ball. The second kind of foul is called, you may guess, an “offensive foul.” This is when a player from the team that does have the ball hits one of the players on the team that doesn’t have the ball. Both things are possible. Fouling is not the only way to break the rules of the game, however.
There are other violations, or ways of breaking the rules. One of the most common violations of the rules is called “traveling.” “Traveling” is when a player with the ball takes more than one step without dribbling the ball. What do we mean by dribbling? “Dribbling” (dribbling) means bouncing the ball continuously, back and forth from your hand to the ground, without actually holding the ball steady.
In basketball, the player who has the ball must dribble it in order to move on the court. You can’t just run with the ball like you would perhaps in football or rugby. You have to bounce the ball on the ground in order to move around the court. Another violation is called a “double dribble.” This means that the player with the ball bounces the ball. Then he stops. Then he starts bouncing it again. You can’t do that. Once you stop bouncing the ball, you have to either throw it to one of the other members of your team or you have to try to throw it at the basket.
Now, professional basketball games are 48 minutes long. Each game is divided up into four periods of 12 minutes each. Between the second and the third period, there’s usually about a 15-minute break. This break is called “halftime” because it is the halfway point of the game. We also have a halftime in the game of American football. During the game, each team is allowed to call for a short time-out, a short pause. Usually, each team gets eight time-outs during the game.
So, although the game is officially 48 minutes long with a 15-minute break, it usually takes much longer to play the game because there are these eight time-outs that each team gets. Although most people know about the men’s professional basketball league, the NBA, there’s also a women’s professional basketball league called the WNBA.
But Jeff, I hear you asking, what about your basketball career? Well, since you asked, yes, I did play basketball when I was in junior high school, in grades six and seven. Since I was the shortest boy on the team – the shortest boy in my entire class, actually – I played the position of guard.
Was I any good? No, not really. I didn’t get to play much, actually. I was what we used to call, and probably still do call in schools, a “bench warmer.” The “bench” is the place where the team’s players who are not playing sits. And that’s where I usually could be found during our basketball games.
Now let’s change topics and talk briefly about something called “flea markets.” Flea markets are places where you can go – usually outside, not inside of a building – and buy things, often used things that people are selling. No one knows exactly where the name “flea market” came from. One theory is that it came from a market in Paris in the mid-nineteenth century.
The sellers at the market sold items that were usually used by people – by other people, I should say – and because they were used items, they sometimes had fleas on them. A “flea” (flea) is very small, black insect that jumps from animal to animal and bites them. You often find fleas on dogs, but sometimes they can be found on people. Fleas can be dangerous. They can carry diseases and pass them on from animal to animal.
In any case, at a flea market, vendors – people who are selling things – usually rent a small space from the person who owns the parking lot or the field where the flea market is being held. They typically will put up tables and put things on their tables that they are selling. Usually these are small things. One thing that’s very popular at American flea markets is called a “collectible.” A “collectible” (collectible) is something that is usually part of a set or series of items that people try to keep together.
Some examples of collectibles would include little dolls. “Dolls” (dolls) are little toys that you might give a young child to play with, but adults often collect these dolls. So, there may be someone who has a Superman doll collection. He collects all the Superman figures that he can find. That would be an example of a collectible. Other people might collect little figures of horses or dogs or pigs – I don’t know, something. These little figures, then, could be considered collectibles if they are valuable or considered, perhaps, rare – that is, not very common.
Very popular also at flea markets are “antiques.” An “antique” is something that is very old – usually it’s a hundred years old or more. If it’s less than a hundred years old, we would probably call it “vintage” (vintage). Antiques can be anything, really, but we often use the word in talking about furniture – chairs and tables and that sort of thing – although it’s not limited to that.
Flea markets also sell other things that are used, or what we might call “secondhand.” “Secondhand” means that someone else has owned the item before – they’re not new things, in other words. Why do people go to flea markets? Well, most people are going in order to get a bargain. A “bargain” (bargain) is a very low price for something, much lower than you would pay in a traditional store.
One of the things that is very common at a flea market is negotiation. You “negotiate” with the person selling the item. “To negotiate” means to propose a price lower than the one typically that the seller is offering. So, someone is trying to sell you a little doll for $20. You say, “Well, I’ll give you $10.” And the person says, “I can’t take $10. How about $18?” And you say, “No, $18 – that’s too expensive. How about $12?” And you go back and forth until you come to a price. Often, it’s in the middle of the range that was formed by the seller’s price and your original offer.
One of the most famous flea markets in the United States is right here in Southern California. It’s called the Rose Bowl Flea Market. It’s located just outside of Los Angeles in the city of Pasadena. It’s about a half an hour from where I live. It’s called the Rose Bowl Flea Market because it takes place near the Rose Bowl, which is a large stadium here in the Southern California area.
There are over 2,500 vendors at the Rose Bowl Flea Market selling everything from clothes to furniture to collectibles. It takes place once a month and costs a small fee to enter. I’m not sure exactly how much it is, probably $10 or $15, and you can go in and see all of these different things on display. If you’re in Southern California the weekend of the Rose Bowl flea market, you might enjoy visiting there.
There are other large flea markets throughout the United States. In fact, almost every city has a flea market somewhere at some time during the year. Often, flea markets are run every week or every month, and that’s a very common pattern here in Southern California as well. I used to go to a flea market that was very close to my house where I grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota. Every Saturday I would go to the flea market, which was located in a parking lot behind a large store.
Now let’s answer a few of your questions.
We have time for a few quick questions. Our first question comes from Alexander (Alexander) in Russia. Alexander wants to know the difference between “grass” and “herb.” “Grass” (grass) is a short plant that grows either as decoration in front of or behind your house, or it might be in a field – a large open area where there are animals who eat the grass.
An “herb” (herb) – notice the “H” in American English is silent on this word – is any plant that has leaves, seeds, or flowers that is used either in making food, medicine, or sometimes perfume. Herbs are things that we may use in cooking to make the food taste better. “Rosemary,” for example, is a common herb in cooking. We may also use herbs to make certain kinds of medicine. Many traditional societies have used herbs as medical treatment – a kind of drug, basically.
Herbs apparently can also be used in “perfume” (perfume). Perfume is a liquid, typically, you put on your body to make yourself smell nice. I don’t use any perfume myself. “Perfume” is usually the word we use for a woman or girl. If a man puts some liquid on his body to make him smell better, we would call that “cologne” (cologne).
We don’t normally eat grass, but we do often eat herbs with our food. I should mention that there is another meaning of the word “grass,” and that is marijuana, the – at least in most places in the U.S. – illegal drug that people smoke. People talk about “smoking grass” – that means they’re smoking marijuana. But more usually, it refers to the green stuff that grows in front of your house or behind it.
Sarah (Sarah) from China wants to know the difference between delectable and palatable. “Delectable” (delectable) means that something tastes delicious, some food has a very good taste. It’s not a very common word. You will see it more in writing than hear it in conversation. To describe a food as delectable is to describe it as being delicious, as tasting very good.
“Palatable” (palatable) means that it is not very good tasting, but it’s good enough to eat. It’s acceptable. It’s okay. Usually if you describe food as being palatable, you’re saying it doesn’t taste very good, but it tastes just good enough for you to eat it. It’s not a compliment when you tell someone that their food is palatable. It is a compliment, it is a nice thing to say, if you describe someone’s food as being delectable.
Our final question comes from Pukar (Pukar) in Nepal. We don’t get a lot of questions from Nepal. So thank you, Pukar, for emailing. Pukar’s question has to do with the expression “be my guest’ (guest). First, let me define “guest.” A guest is someone usually who was invited to visit your home or perhaps to take part in some event organized by another person.
You may be invited, for example, to go to someone’s wedding reception – the party they have after the wedding. You would be considered a “guest.” You are not organizing the wedding. You are not in the wedding. It’s not your event, but you are invited to it. You can have a guest in your house. You can say, “Come over to my house and have dinner.” That would be a “dinner guest.”
The expression “be my guest” means, however, “do as you like” or “please go ahead and do that.” Someone may say, “Can I see your new cell phone?” You may say, “Sure, be my guest,” meaning, “Yes, of course – go ahead and look at it.” It’s a polite phrase that we use to tell another person that they can do, usually, what they are asking to do.
Sometimes the expression is used sarcastically, almost as a joke, when you are telling another person that he can do something, even though you previously said that it won’t work. For example, if your television doesn’t work, and you’re trying to turn it on, and your friend says, “Oh, let me try.” And you may say to him, “Well, be my guest.” Really, you’re saying, “Well, you are not going to be able to do it because I wasn’t able to do it.”
But in normal conversation, perhaps in a little more formal situation, you can use this expression to indicate to a person that yes, it’s okay to do what that other person has asked to do.
From Los Angeles, California, I’m Jeff McQuillan. Thank you for listening. Come back and listen to us again right here on the English Café.
ESL Podcast’s English Café was written and produced by Dr. Jeff McQuillan and Dr. Lucy Tse. Copyright 2014 by the Center for Educational Development.
Glossary
offense – in a game with two or more teams, the team that has the ball and is trying to score
* The players on the offense did everything they could to get the ball into the basket.
defense – in a game with two or more teams, the team that does not have the ball and is trying to prevent the other team from scoring
* The defense worked together to get in between the ball and the basket to be sure that the other team did not score.
to substitute – to switch one items for another; to enter a player into a game in the place of one of the players who is already playing in the game
* Mechi’s doctor told her to reduce the amount of caffeine she drank, so she substituted herbal tea for her morning coffee.
to block – to stop something from happening; to prevent another’s action
* During the parade, the police blocked the road and did not allow any cars to drive through.
to foul – in a sports game, to touch a player from the other team in a way that is against the rules
* When Matthais was fouled during the game, he fell and hurt his knee.
to dribble – in basketball, to continuously bounce a ball on the ground
* The player dribbled the ball while he looked around for a teammate to pass the ball to.
flea – a very small, black insect that jumps from animal to animal and bites them
* The dog was covered with fleas after spending a day in the forest.
collectable – an item that is part of a set or series of items that people try to get and is often quite valuable
* Ansu’s husband got her another collectable for her collection of bird statues.
antique – an old item that is valuable because of its quality, history, and/or how few there are in existence
* The Yu family kept their antique piano safely covered so that the children wouldn’t accidently spill anything on it.
second hand – already owned and used, so it is no longer new
* Anna was the youngest child in her family and always wore second hand clothes from her older sisters.
bargain – a price for an item and is much lower than what an item might usually cost
* The table Giovanni bought was a bargain. It would have cost much more in any other store.
to negotiate – for a buyer and seller to talk about the price of an item, trying to find a price both can agree on
* When the Ramirez family was buying their house, they negotiated the price down $15,000 from the asking price.
grass – a short plant with long narrow leaves, growing wild or as lawns (large green areas) in front of or behind people’s homes, or on large areas of land for animals to eat
* The children like to play on the grass, rolling around with the new puppy.
herb – any plant with leaves, seeds, or flowers used for flavoring, food, medicine, or perfume
* Taste this drink. It’s been flavored with some unusual herbs and spices.
delectable – delicious, usually used to describe food or drink; good tasting
* We can’t wait to go over to Monica’s for dinner. She always cooks delectable food.
palatable – acceptable or okay, but not delicious, usually used to describe food or drink
* In college, Bo was too poor to eat out so he cooked at home. What he made was palatable, but not very good.
be my guest – do as you like; please do
* If you want to spend the day working then be my guest, but I’m going to the beach!
What Insiders Know
Nerf Balls
In 1968, inventor Reyn Guyer started a company called Windsor Concepts that developed new toys and games. While working on a game with a “caveman” (pre-historic man who lived in caves) game, Guyers team created soft rocks and stones for the caveman to throw as part of the game. One of Guyer’s team members started throwing one of the caveman game’s “foam” (soft, light rubber or plastic material) rocks onto a “net” (a piece of material made of string or plastic used in games like basketball). Guyer realized that this could be a new product and he developed a whole “line” (series of products) of games based on these foam balls. These foam balls were produced using a special material called “polyester resin” that made them very soft and light.
Guyer wanted to get a large toy maker interested in his foam games. He “pitched” (proposed) the idea to one of the largest game manufacturers at that time, a company called Milton Bradley. However, the company did not like the idea and decided not to use it. Guyer did not give up and pitched his idea to another large toy company, Parker Brothers.
Parker Brothers did not really like the idea of foam games. However, they were interested in the idea of a foam ball that children could use to play “indoors” (inside a building). As a result, they decided to sell the ball on its own and released it in 1970. It was called the “Nerf” ball and was called “the world’s first indoor ball.” The word “nerf” was a slang term for the foam “padding” (soft material used to protect or support something) used in “off-road” (driving a car where there are no roads) racing.
The Nerf ball “instantly” (immediately) became a success. Within a year, more than four million Nerf balls had been sold.