Just take a swing out to Rockaway after work
I saw this sentence in the movie The Flamingo Kid. What's the meaning of the phrase "take a swing out" here?
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I think swing here just means a quick journey. Just take a quick journey out to Rockaway after work. – dan Oct 2 '18 at 23:52
To "swing by" or "swing past" is an idiom that means to stop briefly at one location on the way to another.
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/swing-by-past-somewhere
It is implied the new location is somewhere between the start and end of the trip, so this extra stop would be convenient.
The joke is that Rockaway, Queens is on a peninsula so it is not "on the way" to anywhere. It is probably the most remote and inconvenient location in New York City.
