Roller over

Question

Hi teachers,1.  If that were to happen, India would roll over on any issue.  (referring to India's coveted seat on the U.N. Security Council)I understand it as nothing related to deferring in payments.  What does it mean here?2.  He didn't even put up a fight in court, he just sort of rolled over.  ( about a crime he didn't commit )  What does this mean here?Thank you.Tinanam

Cbsteh · Accepted Answer

Roll over here means:

1. India would lose her influence/say/opinion on all issues
2. He did not defend himself in court, perhaps he didn't say anything to defend himself.

Chris

Tinanam0102 · Answer

Hi cbsteh,

I'm sorry I made a typo. It is "roll over".

I couldn't find roll over in the dictionary that suits the explanation for no. 2. Could you use a word to describe "roll over" ?

Thank you.

Tinanam

Avangi · Answer

I take "roll over" here as a political expression referring to the expedient change of position.
In other words, someone bows to pressure and changes his vote. (switches sides)

It's sometimes used in criminal investigations to describe the act of "turning states evidence," or giving evidence against your partners in crime - ratting them out, as it were.

He didn't even put up a fight in court, he just sort of rolled over.

Sorry, I didn't pick up on this. This is different.
It's like in the idiom "to roll over and play dead" - or in this case, "to roll over and die."
He just gave up. This version of the expression has nothing to do with the law.

Tinanam0102 · Answer

Hi Avangi,

Thank you for helping me on this. I understand now.

Tinanam

Tinanam0102 · Answer

Hi Avangi,

I happened to find another example of "roll over". Would you please help me with it?

Let's imagine a world in which Washington cna't stay current on interest payments and can't roll over its trillions of debts as it matures.

Thank you.

Tinanam

Avangi · Answer

In the US, I believe this is an income tax issue.

When they started offering 401K's and IRA accounts as officially tax-sheltered investments, the question came up, "What if I'm unhappy with the growth of my investment, and wish to change to another?" OR "What if I wish to cash out and invest the money on my own?"
"What if these are protected government bonds with a fixed date of maturity?"

At that time, would you then have to pay income tax on the profits you had made, up to that point?

So they wrote laws describing the details and conditions under which you could reinvest the money within a fixed window of time, without paying taxes on the profits.
This is called "rolling over" an investment.

I believe in the case of bonds with a fixed maturity date, "rolling over" could be simply reinvesting your money in the same type of bonds.
There was a movie on this subject, intitled "Rollover," in which foreign investors seemed undecided on whether to roll over their investments.

Wow! I'd forgotten it was so long ago. I remember watching it in a theater.

Avangi · Answer

tinanam0102Let's imagine a world in which Washington cna't stay current on interest payments and can't roll over its trillions of debts as it matures.

This is looking at it from the other side of the fence. I haven't actually heard it used this way before.

In this case, it's the borrower rather than the lender who is worried about renewing the arrangement when it reaches maturity. (When you buy a T-Bill or a government bond, you're actually loaning the government money. When you roll it over, you simply do it again.)

Will the US be able to remake the same deals with foreign investors?

Let's say instead of a traditional mortgage on your house, you get a 30-year "interest only" loan. At the end of 30 years, you still owe the full amount of the principle, and you now have to get a new loan.
So who rolls it over, you or the bank? In the traditional sense, the bank does. It's their investment, and they're earning money on it from you.

But in your latest quote, it's you, the borrower, who wishes to roll it over. (Never heard this before.)

Tinanam0102 · Answer

Hi Avangi,

Thank you so much for this topic.

I have free Newsweek magazine every week. I try to read as much as I can so they don't go to waste. But it is full of vocabulary so I keep looking up in my dictionary. Some of them are not even in my dictionary, some which the dictioanry says: obsolete. One word leads to another word and another, and finally I have the meaning of the word, I must have gone through a few words. Now I am trying to stick to the English version dictionary, because I find the Chinese meaning for an English word can vary a lot.

Tinanam

Roller over

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