Seemed to be thinking over my head

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Marius Hancu - 31 Oct 2008 09:06 GMT

Hello:

Would
"seemed to be thinking over my head"
mean
"seemed to be thinking as if I were absent"

------
[Basteshaw and Augie are in middle of the ocean, in a rescue boat.
Basteshaw proves to be a fanatical researcher, who tries to discover the
biological origin of boredom, in order to save mankind from it.]

Often Basteshaw seemed to be thinking over my head, and he would be in a
strange humor in which you could see him make an observation, both grim
and amusing to himself. It made me wonder what he was up to. And for
long spells, though he patrolled me still from the side of his eyes and
knew my every move, he sometimes sat as heavy as a piece of foundry
brass. I became very uneasy.

Augie March, by Bellow, p. 552
------

Thanks.
Marius Hancu

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Lars Eighner - 31 Oct 2008 09:56 GMT

In our last episode,
<geee3u$pgu$1@aioe.org>,
the lovely and talented Marius Hancu
broadcast on alt.usage.english:

> Hello:

> Would
> "seemed to be thinking over my head"
> mean
> "seemed to be thinking as if I were absent"

I think you are trying to make an analogy to "talking over <someone's>
head." But that is not (always) talking as if someone is absent. It is
(often) talking in a way that someone cannot understand --- usually because
of the excluded person's intellectual limitations, but sometimes because the
excluded person does not know what the subject is or what the context is.
This may be intentional between the speakers or not. It is as if the
excluded person isn't there because the speakers do not make an effort to
include him by speaking plainly or simplifying their discussion.

So in this case, Basteshaw seems to be making observations and reacting to
them. Augie feels he (Augie) is out of his intellectual depth: he either is
not perceiving what Basteshaw is perceiving or cannot appreciate it as
profoundly as Basteshaw does or both.

> ------
> [Basteshaw and Augie are in middle of the ocean, in a rescue boat.
> Basteshaw proves to be a fanatical researcher, who tries to discover the
> biological origin of boredom, in order to save mankind from it.]

> Often Basteshaw seemed to be thinking over my head, and he would be in a
> strange humor in which you could see him make an observation, both grim
> and amusing to himself. It made me wonder what he was up to. And for
> long spells, though he patrolled me still from the side of his eyes and
> knew my every move, he sometimes sat as heavy as a piece of foundry
> brass. I became very uneasy.

> Augie March, by Bellow, p. 552
> ------

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Lars Eighner <http://larseighner.com/> usenet@larseighner.com
Q. What did Palin do that Obama could not do?
A. Got me to vote for Obama.

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Marius Hancu - 31 Oct 2008 10:22 GMT

> Augie feels he (Augie) is out of his intellectual depth: he either is
> not perceiving what Basteshaw is perceiving or cannot appreciate it as
> profoundly as Basteshaw does or both.

OK, didn't think about this one.

Thanks.
Marius Hancu

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Discussion Groups / English Usage / October 2008

Seemed to be thinking over my head