Advanced English Conversations - Robert Allans, Ahmet Mustafaoglu, Metin Emir 2019
Set (98) - He doesn’t want to play the game
Dialogue
Allan: I'll send one of my strong men around to him tomorrow to tighten the screws on him. Then we'll see if he's still so sure he won't sign the contract.
Jerry: Don’t dare you! You’re going to make a mess of the whole deal.
Allan: He’s going to sigh willingly or unwillingly.
Jerry: What on earth is making him standing his ground after like this?
Allan: He doesn’t want to play the game because he observed our enthusiasm.
Jerry: He’ll give in sooner or later.
Vocabulary
Tighten the screws: exert strong pressure on someone.
Don’t dare you: used for telling someone not to do something, when you are warning them that you will be very angry if they do it.
Make a mess of: ruin or spoil (something).
Willingly or unwillingly: either by one’s own will or against it.
Stand one’s ground: to hold to one’s position; to refuse to give in.
Not play that game: to refuse to adhere to, participate in, or be a part of what is expected or wanted by others, especially because one is suspicious.
Give in: to cease fighting or arguing; admit defeat.
Exercise
Fill in the gaps with the appropriate phrases:
tighten the screws
don’t dare you
make a mess of
willingly or unwillingly
not play that game
give in
stand one’s ground
a. She should know that I’m going to bring the children ..........
b. ........... touch that autographed baseball—it's worth a lot of money!
c. Under the threat of a strike, the management.......... and agreed to reinstate annual pay increases for all employees.
d. He kept offering me less money, but I .......... and got the full asking price.
e. I'm .........., Rob. If there's something wrong, just say it—don't just keep alluding to it passive aggressively.
f. The bank has really started .......... on me ever since I began missing my mortgage payments.
g. I'm afraid the accounting department .......... these numbers. We'll need to re-tally the entire ledger.