A: Hello! This is Word Wise on Language Tips, I’m Brendan.
B: Hi, this is Meggie.
A: Meggie, did you watch Sunday night’s basketball match between the United States and China? It was just fantastic! The game was competitive and exciting, even though the United States is far stronger right now than China. I think China did a good job and tried their best.
B: You are quite right! They failed but they are not losers. They are heroes in China! So what’s the word for today?
A: Hah, well you’ve been so obsessed with the game,so today’s word is tip-off.
B: Tip-off?
A: Yes, the tip-off in basketball means a jump ball that begins each period.
B: 哦，就是開球時的跳球，是吧？
A: Yes. We can have several jump balls in a game, but only one tip-off at the beginning of each period.
A: Yes. That’s it. But do you know that the verb phrase “tip off” has nothing even to do with basketball at all?
B: 那動詞短語tip off到底是什么意思呢？
A: Tip off means to supply with private or insider information. For example, he tipped off the police about the drug trafficking.
B: 他向警方提供了關于毒品交易的內幕。嗯，的確跟在籃球中的用法很不同。我們今天講的詞是tip-off 籃球中的開球， 以及短語 tip off，告密、提供內部消息。
A: And that’s a tip off from me to you about the world of basketball and crime. For more words, please log onto our website at language.chinadaily.com.cn. See you next time!
