English Language Learners Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for speakers of other languages learning English. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
It's another very late night as we heave tomorrow's paper around to take in the new developments, with one or two colleagues also having to drop what they were doing and rush into the office.
-Play It Again by Alan Rusbridger
This scene happens at the office in the Guardian newspaper. What does 'to heave the paper around' mean? Does it mean printing the paper?
To heave means (among other things) pull a large or very heavy object or load. Heave brings to mind manual muscle involved in pulling, or maybe horse/sled dog, and the load would be linear like a train. (Diesel engines don't heave, they haul).
So they are using heave here figuratively to colorfully say that there is a lot to this paper, it's "heavy" in the sense it will take a lot of time to process or it contains a lot now, and that it must be processed by each person - or at least distributed to each person - in turn as the "train" goes by.
In this context, I believe the writers are pushing up against a deadline to send the edition to press and are heaving around ideas and last-second updates to their main story, not literally tossing physical copies of "tomorrow's paper around" amongst themselves. But the writer doesn't make it clear which he intends, so your confusion is well founded.
Please note that any response to this question will be primarily opinion-based, including mine, unless it is answered by the author.
