Name: Djokovic vs Australia: Novak to stay - BBC News Review
Uploaded: 2021-11-15T16:50:08.000Z
Duration: 10 min 34 s
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Tennis star Novak Djokovic has won his appeal to stay in Australia

so he can defend his Australian Open title.

Hello, I'm Rob and welcome to News Review from BBC Learning English.

If you would like to test yourself on the vocabulary around this story,

all you need to do is head to our website

But now, let's hear more about this story from this BBC News report:

So, Novak Djokovic has won an appeal against the cancellation of his visa

and can now stay in Australia and compete in the Australian Open.

Djokovic, who arrived in Australia recently,

believed that he was permitted to enter the country

after recently recovering from the Covid virus

and as a result was exempt from the Covid virus rules.

The Australian government has said it could still cancel the visa.

And we've got three words and expressions we can learn about

to help us talk about this story, haven't we? What are they, Roy?

That's 'quashes', 'handed reprieve' and 'clearing path'.

OK. Let's take that first word, which appears in which headline please?

Well, the first headline is from the Guardian and it reads:

So, that's 'quashes' – rejects something officially.

and it means to reject something officially.

It's often used in a court of law and we can't...

we quite commonly hear it when it says that a...

when a decision that was previously made —

somebody has said that that decision is no longer accepted,

OK. So, it's no longer accepted. So, this is interesting:

in the case of this headline, we're saying that the judge says that

the decision to cancel his visa was no longer accepted, yeah?

That's right, yeah. So... and we have other... other things.

For example, if a person receives a conviction or they go to prison,

and then later on somebody decides that — a judge decides that that's...

that punishment, that conviction, is no longer valid, it's not accepted,

they would 'quash' that person's sentence.

OK. And it's a strange word — 'quashes'.

I mean, it reminds me of the word 'squashes':

when you squeeze something, you suppress something,

when you 'squash' something. Is there any kind of connection here?

and the secondary meaning of 'quash' is basically to suppress something

So, for example, if there's a rumour that you think is incorrect,

It means to suppress or prevent it from... from happening.

And another example, I guess, where there are protests in some countries,

the authorities want to 'quash' the protests, don't they?

They want to suppress or stop that protest.

OK. OK. Let's have a summary of that word please:

We've talked about Novak Djokovic before here on News Review,

when he hit a ball at someone, didn't he, Roy?

Yes, and all you need to do to learn more about that story

is click the link in the description below.

OK. Let's look at your next news headline please.

So, our next news headline comes from the website Tennis365 and it reads:

So, that's 'handed reprieve' — given cancellation of a punishment.

Right. So, this is a two-word expression.

Second word: 'reprieve' — R-E-P-R-I-E-V-E.

Now, 'handed' means to be given something,

so it's quite often used officially: you're 'handed' something.

And 'reprieve' is the cancellation or the postponement of a punishment.

Now, this headline relates to the fact that during the hearing

Novak Djokovic was allowed to leave the hotel where he was staying.

I mean, I know what a 'hand' is. Look: there's a 'hand'.

What's that got to do with this headline?

Well, quite literally, 'handed' means to pass something

if we're in the office together and I say:

'Oh, I need a pen. Oh, Rob, could you hand me that pen please?'

for example, in a court of law where they are 'given' something.

So, you could be, for example, 'handed a reprieve' in this sense:

Yeah. So, he was given a 'reprieve'. So, that means to end...

That's absolutely right. That's what 'reprieve' means:

to cancel or postpone some kind of punishment.

So, in this case he was staying in a detention centre and he received a...

OK. And there's a, kind of, another meaning really

There is. It can mean, sort of, a welcome

or a good, kind of, delay to something — a 'reprieve'.

So, for example, maybe a company is having financial problems

and they risk going... going bust — going bankrupt.

But at the last minute, they are given an emergency loan.

We could say maybe: 'They are given a reprieve.'

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Djokovic vs Australia: Novak to stay - BBC News Review

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