never missed a stroke with his push-broom
What is meant by this phrase?

"Andy and I were on fair speaking terms by then. The guy fascinated me. Looking back to the poster episode, I see there’s one thing I neglected to tell you, and maybe I should. Five weeks after he hung Rita up (I’d forgotten all about it by then, and had gone on to other deals), Ernie passed a small white box through the bars of my cell.

‘From Dufresne,’ he said, low, and never missed a stroke with his push-broom.

‘Thanks, Ernie,’ I said, and slipped him half a pack of Camels."
(from Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King)

Question

never missed a stroke with his push-broom
What is meant by this phrase?

"Andy and I were on fair speaking terms by then. The guy fascinated me. Looking back to the poster episode, I see there’s one thing I neglected to tell you, and maybe I should. Five weeks after he hung Rita up (I’d forgotten all about it by then, and had gone on to other deals), Ernie passed a small white box through the bars of my cell.

‘From Dufresne,’ he said, low, and never missed a stroke with his push-broom.

‘Thanks, Ernie,’ I said, and slipped him half a pack of Camels."
(from Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King)

Answer

It means that Ernie was very sly about slipping him the box.  Ernie was working on clean-up duty, sweeping with the push broom.  He passed the box into the cell, without ever stopping the back and forth motion (“never missing a beat”) with the push broom, so as to avoid drawing any attention from the guards.

Answer

Ernie was sweeping with a push broom, and secretly gave the protagonist a small white box.

‘From Dufresne,’ he said, low, and never missed a stroke with his push-broom.

Never missing a stroke means that he did not stop sweeping with the broom.  He continued to sweep exactly the same way, to prevent anyone from noticing that he passed a box.

Answers · 4

Still haven’t found your answers?

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to learn a language from the comfort of your own home. Browse our selection of experienced language tutors and enroll in your first lesson now!