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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Vocabulary

Meaning of phrase

"He took off through the living room, high-stepping over his eight younger cousins, who were sprawled on the floor watching cartoons on television. "Bye, Grandma," he tossed over his shoulder to his grandmother, who sat in a tattered easy chair among the kids..."

Does 'toss over' here simply means he tossed his hand in the air to say goodbye?

Thanks so much.
  

Top answer

No. Here 'tossed over' means 'said casually and quickly'.

— Mister Micawber

  • No.
  • Here 'tossed over' means 'said casually and quickly'.
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11 Answers
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No. Here 'tossed over' means 'said casually and quickly'.
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Then what does toss over his shoulder mean? Does the whole phrase mean said casually and quickly?

For example, if I want to say I said hi casually and quickly when I ran pass a friend can I say: "Hi," I tossed over my shoulder to my friend as I ran pass him.
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Yes. 'Toss over his shoulder' = said... over his shoulder. Try speaking 'over your shoulder' and you will get the right physical image.
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Sorry my English is really poor. Does 'over your shoulder' means he's turning his head back to say bye to his grandma and toss is like he is nodding his head and the head is over the height of the shoulder so that's how the look of this gesture looks casual?
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Does 'over your shoulder' means he's turning his head back to say bye to his grandma over the height of the shoulder -- Yes.

and toss is like he is nodding his head -- No. As I have already explained, it refers to the tone of the utterance.
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Jin_HDoes 'over your shoulder' means he's turning his head back to say bye to his grandma
Yes

"toss" is not a word that I've ever heard used in this sense but I understand what it means. When you toss a ball, the ball leaves your hand. When he tossed "Bye, Grandma" over his shoulder, the words left his mouth. He's not physically nodding his head
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Oh I get it now. Thanks so much. So in this case I guess he had to been of turning his head back to look at grandma while passing her to say goodbye or else 'over his shoulder' could not be used right? Because if he were running toward his grandma where his grandma is looking at him while he is approaching her then 'toss' would be used only, like "goodbye, grandma" he tossed to grandma, who sat...
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Jin_Hif he were running toward his grandma where his grandma is looking at him while he is approaching her then 'toss' would be used only, like "goodbye, grandma" he tossed to grandma, who sat....
No, it would have to go all together in order to make sense. Like I said, I've never heard "toss" used in that way. It makes sense to me as a native speaker but I w
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Why does it have to be over his shoulders? Why can't it be tossed over his arm or head lol.
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'Over one's shoulder' is set phrase for 'in passing', 'while leaving'.
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