chromaTHICa
What does 'to flip someone' mean? This is from 'The Americans' (4x12). An FBI agent (A) found a bug in the office. Shortly after he came to report that to his boss and another agent (B). Then the following exchange takes place: A: They ought to tear this godd*mn building down. B: And fire everyone who works in it, including us. A: We have to set up on the mail robot. Whatever that thing is, someone's gonna switch it out. B: Tech guys aren't sure how long it runs. Boss: You know what? I don't really give a sh*t who's switching it out. We'll just do the usual: flip him, have him make his drop. We pick up some idiot from the Soviet embassy with diplomatic immunity, and PNG them. Also, does 'switch it out' mean 'to replace'? And what about 'set up on'?
2021년 2월 13일 오후 6:24
답변 · 8
2
To flip someone is a term used in the espionage world to persuade someone to come work for your side, they would be considered a double agent. For example, a Russian spy who was flipped is now working for the Americans and spying on Russia, delivering trade secrets to the American government. To turn someone is a synonym of to flip, you might see that in the show as well :) To switch out means to replace, yes. To set up on, I’m not quite sure in that context (it’s a bit confusing) but I’m guessing it’s referring to assembling or installing something on the robot.
2021년 2월 13일
1
This conversation is difficult even for an English-speaker to understand, and that is intentional. They are using "spy jargon", which makes them seem very expert in what they are doing, and they don't really expect us to understand it. Usually, "flipping someone" means to force someone to be a witness to or to work for the other side by putting pressure on them/blackmailing them. "Switch it out" in this case probably means that the mail robot/spyware is going to run for a short time and then get replaced or removed in order to minimize the chance of detection. "Set up on" probably means to set up surveillance or tracking on the mail robot. Again, these are just guesses, but I don't think that they really mean to be very precise in what they are saying. I think that they just want to give the impression that they have seen and done this before...
2021년 2월 13일
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