Turn the tables

When you “turn the tables” on someone else, you switch positions with that person, and you usually move from a disadvantage to an advantage.

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Turn the tables

Today’s English expression is, “turn the tables.” We use this expression when two people are in opposing situations, and usually one person has an advantage. When you turn the tables on someone else, you switch positions with that person—and you usually move from a disadvantage to an advantage.

It’s common to use this when describing how fortunes change in a competition. Any NBA fans in the audience? I know there are. I wrote this lesson on April 24, and I was keeping an eye on the Chicago Bulls and Milwaukee Bucks. They’re playing in the first round of the NBA playoffs; it’s a seven-game series, so the first team to win four games wins the series.

The first game was very close. Both teams played well, but the Bucks won by a score of 93-86. Then, the Bulls turned the tables and won game 2, another close game, by a score of 114-110. The Bulls turned the tables on the Bucks. In the first game, the Bucks won and the Bulls lost; the Bucks had the advantage. But in the second game, the Bulls turned the tables. That means they took their disadvantage—their loss in game 1—and made it an advantage by winning game 2.

I don’t need to tell this audience that English speakers have an advantage when cultures come together. Doesn’t it always seem to be the non-English speaker who has to adapt, and speak the other language? Some speakers have it easier than others. English is easier to learn for native speakers of Dutch, for example, or Germany. It’s harder for speakers of Chinese or—I don’t know—Turkish.

Ah, right, Turkish. Native speakers of Turkish usually are the ones who struggle in international meetings, when they try to pronounce words in English. But now, as you heard today, the country’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan wants to turn the tables. He wants English speakers to call his country “Türkiye,” which is how Turks themselves say it. And as you can hear, it’s not easy for us to say it that way.

Erdoğan wants to turn the tables. Normally, it’s Turkish people who have to adapt to pronounce English words. Now he wants English speakers to have to pronounce a Turkish word. He wants to turn the tables—if only on this one small piece of the English language he can control.

The job market is hot these days , right? In normal times, the employer has the advantage during the hiring process. Usually, the job applicant needs the job more than the company needs the employee. But the tables are turned these days. Today, employers are desperate for employees. And during a job interview, applicants are turning the tables. Usually, it’s the employer asking the questions, trying to make sure the applicant lives up to the company’s standards. Now, though, it’s often the applicants who are asking the hard questions, making sure the job and the company live up to their own high standards. The positions are reversed, and the advantage has moved from the employer to the employee. The tables are turned.

JR’s song of the week

It’s time for JR’s song of the week. He has chosen a classic this week—a song I actually know! It’s “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” by Tears for Fears. It came out in 1985 is and often played on rock and roll radio stations here in the U.S. Its lyrics are about the thirst for power and the danger—at the time—of a nuclear war. Not an upbeat topic, but the melody is memorable and it’s on the radio a lot. See if you recognize it, “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” by the band Tears for Fears.

See you next time!

That’s all for today’s lesson. By the way, the phrase “turn the tables” originated with the game of backgammon. It’s a two-player game, a table game, and—can you believe it—the game is 400 years old. After a game of backgammon, two players rotate the table so that they each play from the other side. I believe, in backgammon as in chess, the two sides are meant to be equal, but they’re not exactly the same.

We’ll be back on Thursday with a new lesson. See you then.

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Story: Turkey's name change