Daily English 1292 Being a Victim of Extortion

Dialogue/Story

Slow Speed begins at: 1:11
Explanation begins at: 3:53
Normal Speed begins at: 18:26

Complete Transcript

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 1,292 – Being a Victim of Extortion.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 1,292. I’m your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California (although it’s raining right now).

This episode is a dialogue between Jason and Ida about someone trying to get money from you illegally. Let’s get started.

[start of dialogue]

Jason: Hey, that guy just took merchandise without paying. Didn’t you see him?

Ida: Yeah, but it’s okay. Forget about it.

Jason: What’s going on here? Why did you just let that guy take things without paying?

Ida: If you must know, I’m paying for protection.

Jason: Protection? From whom?

Ida: Those guys. They rule this neighborhood. If a business doesn’t pay up, they resort to violence.

Jason: You mean this is a shakedown? They’re threatening you with violence unless you pay?

Ida: Yes, but what else can I do? All of the businesses on this street pay, one way or another.

Jason: But a protection racket is extortion. It’s against the law. You could tell the police.

Ida: The last person who squealed had his store torched. I’m not going up against these guys. Things could get ugly, really ugly. Are you leaving?

Jason: Yeah, I’m going to try to find that that guy who was here and talk to him, tell him to lay off you.

Ida: You can’t do that! Those guys mean business. They’ll hurt you.

Jason: Not a chance. When I tell them you’re under my protection, they’ll lay off for sure.

Ida: Stop! I’m not letting you stick your neck out for me. Your funeral won’t be on my head!

[end of dialogue]

Jason begins our dialogue by saying to Ida, “Hey, that guy just took merchandise without paying. Didn’t you see him?” Jason says, “Hey” (hey), a way of getting Ida’s attention, getting her to listen to him. “That guy,” meaning that man, “took merchandise” (merchandise). “Merchandise” refers to things that you sell. We might also call them “goods” (goods). They are things, physical things, usually, that you sell, such as plates and cups and computers and chairs and microphones and, well, anything that you can sell.

Ida says, “Yeah, but it’s okay. Forget about it,” meaning “Don’t worry about it.” Jason is confused. He says, “What’s going on here?” meaning “What is happening here?” “Why did you just let that guy take things without paying?” Ida says, “If you must know,” meaning if it is necessary that I tell you, “I’m paying for protection.” “Protection” (protection) is normally something you do to prevent you from getting hurt, but here it’s used to refer to money or things you give a group of people so that they will not hurt you. Usually these are criminals who say to you, “We won’t hurt you if you give us money.”

So really, they’re stealing something from you, just in a different way. They’re taking your money – or in this case, your “merchandise” – so that you won’t get hurt even worse. Jason says, “Protection? From whom?” Ida says, “Those guys,” meaning those men. “They rule this neighborhood.” “To rule” (rule) means to be in control or to have power over someone else. Ida explains, “If a business doesn’t pay up, they resort to violence.” “To pay up” is a two-word phrasal verb meaning to give someone money that you owe that person, especially when you don’t really want to give him any money.

If, for example, you borrow money from another person, that person eventually will ask you to pay up, to give him the money that you borrowed from him. Ida says, “If businesses don’t pay up,” meaning don’t give money to these criminals, the criminals “resort (resort) to violence.” “To resort to violence” means to start hurting other people physically or even killing people. When you feel you have no other choice or no other option, you resort to violence when more peaceful methods don’t work.

Jason says, “You mean this is a shakedown?” A “shakedown” (shakedown) is when someone tells you that something bad will happen to you if you don’t give that person money. A shakedown is often done when someone discovers something bad about you, that if other people found out would be embarrassing or perhaps hurt you in some way. So, the person says, “I won’t tell anyone if you give me some money.” That’s a kind of “shakedown.” Here, the shakedown involves not hurting the business as long as the business gives the criminals some money.

Jason then asks, “They’re threatening you with violence unless you pay?” “To threaten” (threaten) means to say to someone that bad things will happen to that person unless that person does what you want him to do. Ida says, “Yes” – yes, they’re threatening me. “But what else can I do? All of the businesses on this street pay one way or another.”

Jason says, “But a protection racket is extortion. It’s against the law. You could tell the police.” A “protection racket” (racket) is an illegal agreement with a group of people to protect people and businesses if those businesses or those people give money to a certain group of criminals. Any kind of “racket” is an illegal agreement. So, a “protection racket” is an illegal agreement that is about not hurting someone if that person gives you money, or in this case, a group of criminals money.

Jason says a protection racket is “extortion” (extortion). “Extortion” is a crime. It’s the act of getting someone to do something because you threaten that person – that is, you say to that person, “I’m going to hurt you unless you do something that I want you to do.” You can hurt people in many different ways. It doesn’t have to be just hitting them or hurting them physically. You could do other things to hurt a person. All of those things would be related to this crime of extortion – when you tell someone he has to do something for you, and if he doesn’t, then you will do something bad to him.

Ida explains that even though this is against the law, she can’t tell the police. Why? Well, because she says, “The last person who squealed had his store torched.” “To squeal” (squeal) means to report someone’s bad or illegal behavior to the government or the police or someone who is, we would say, “in authority.” The verb “to squeal” is meant to have a negative connotation – that is, it’s supposed to be a bad thing to tell the police or to tell the teacher that someone else is doing something wrong.

Another word for that is “tattling.” “To tattle” (tattle) means to report someone to the authorities. We also use the phrasal verb “to tell on” someone. If a child says to another friend of his, “Don’t tell on me,” he means don’t tell his mother or the teacher that he did something wrong. We usually think this is a bad thing, probably because we value loyalty, protecting our friends and relationships.

Ida, in any case, says that this other person who did tell the police had his store “torched” (torched). If you have your house or your store or your building “torched,” someone has burned it down. Someone has started a fire to burn it down in order to destroy it. Ida continues, “I’m not going up against these guys.” “To go up against” someone is to oppose someone or to try to beat someone, especially someone who’s powerful. “Things could get ugly, really ugly,” Ida says. The expression “to get ugly” means to become dangerous or unpleasant, or to have a bad result.

“Are you leaving?” Ida then says to Jason. Jason says, “Yeah, I’m going to try to find that guy who was here and talk to him, tell him to lay off you.” The phrasal verb “to lay (lay) off” usually means to stop doing something. In this case, it means to stop bothering another person. If you are bothering someone, perhaps criticizing him or making fun of him, he might say, “Lay off me,” meaning stop criticizing, stop bothering me.

Ida says, “You can’t do that. Those guys mean business.” The expression “to mean (mean) business” means to be very serious about what you do, to not be joking or pretending. Ida says, “They’ll hurt you.” Jason says, “Not a chance,” meaning no, they won’t. That’s not even possible. “When I tell them you’re under my protection, they’ll lay off for sure,” meaning they will definitely stop when I tell them that I am going to protect you.

But Ida says, “Stop! I’m not letting you stick your neck out for me.” The phrase “to stick (stick) your neck (neck) out for” someone, or simply “to stick your neck out,” means to do something that might cause you harm, to do something “risky” (risky), to do something dangerous, something that may cause you to get hurt. Ida does not want Jason stick his neck out for her.

She says, “Your funeral won’t be on my head.” A “funeral” (funeral) is a service or a ceremony or simply some event that is done when someone dies, usually to remember that person. Ida is saying that she doesn’t want Jason’s funeral to be on her head, meaning to be something she is responsible for, or more importantly something that she will be blamed for, something she will be guilty of.

Now let’s listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.