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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2010Hiassen: swiping
Hello: What image/meaning does this "swiping" conjures to you? ---- [Tool's a huge man] [...] Stranahan followed with a right hook to the base of the neck, throwing all his weight into the punch. The man [Tool] toppled, swiping blindly as he fell. The house shuddered to its beams. Carl Hiaasen, Skinny Dip, p. 165 ---- -- Thanks. Marius Hancu > What image/meaning does this "swiping" conjures to you? You mean "conjure". > ---- > [Tool's a huge man] [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Carl Hiaasen, Skinny Dip, p. 165 He was moving his extended arm around, as if trying to hit or grab his opponent.  SignatureMark Brader "We demand rigidly defined areas Toronto of doubt and uncertainty!" msb@vex.net -- Vroomfondel (Douglas Adams: HHGTTG) > Hello: > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > Carl Hiaasen, Skinny Dip, p. 165 > ---- To swipe is to aim a blow at someone. It can also mean to hit someone. As slang it means to steal and these days it also means to pass a credit / debit card through a reader. But the first meaning is what you want. Tool is trying to land a punch on Stranahan but missing. SignatureJohn Dean Oxford >> Hello: >> [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] >debit card through a reader. But the first meaning is what you want. Tool is >trying to land a punch on Stranahan but missing. To me "swipe" as a physical action involves a swinging or sideways motion as well as a possible forward motion. The "swiping" of a card throw a reader is consistent with this. OED: swipe, v. [? partly local variant of SWEEP v., partly f. SWIPE n.2] 2. intr. a. (See quot. 1825.) Sc. 1825 JAMIESON, To Swipe, v.n. 1. To move circularly, Lanarks. 2. To give a stroke in a semicircular or elliptical form, as when one uses a scythe in cutting down grass, S b. To strike at with the full swing of the arms; chiefly in cricket (see SWIPE n.2 2). c. trans. To deal a swinging blow or hit at (esp. in cricket). 4. trans. To steal, ‘appropriate’; to loot. slang (orig. U.S.). 5. trans. To pass (a credit card, identity card, etc.) through an electronic device in order to read and process data magnetically encoded on it. Cf. *SWIPE n.2 7, *WIPE v. 1 e. swipe, n.2 2. a. A heavy blow; spec. a driving stroke made with the full swing of the arms, in cricket or golf; transf. one who makes such a stroke. colloq 7. An electronic device for reading information magnetically encoded on a credit card, identity card, etc., usu. incorporating a slot through which the card is passed. Chiefly attrib., esp. in swipe card, a card for use in such a device. SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) > > What image/meaning does this "swiping" conjures to you? > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > throwing all his weight into the punch. The man [Tool] toppled, > > swiping blindly as he fell. The house shuddered to its beams. - > To swipe is to aim a blow at someone. It can also mean to hit someone. As > slang it means to steal and these days it also means to pass a credit / > debit card through a reader. But the first meaning is what you want. Tool is > trying to land a punch on Stranahan but missing. Ah, OK. Thank you all. Marius Hancu >Hello: > >What image/meaning does this "swiping" conjures to you? An ineffective, in this case, right or left hook. >---- >[Tool's a huge man] [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >Carl Hiaasen, Skinny Dip, p. 165 >---- SignatureRegards, Chuck Riggs, An American who lives near Dublin, Ireland and usually spells in BrE |
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