A friend’s coworker invited him to lunch via email and in the email he also wrote the below.
if no, please look past my shoulder when you see me next time
What does the “look past shoulder” mean? Ignore me (sarcasm?)
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"Put out the fire and don't look past my shoulder" Baba O'Riley, The Who– fundagainAug 28, 2018 at 22:18
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"And don't look past my shoulder, Reggie! Reggie! Reggie!" Summer of Sam, springfieldspringfield.co.uk/… - referencing The Who– fundagainAug 28, 2018 at 22:28
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"look past" by itself is a synonym for "ignore". en.oxforddictionaries.com/thesaurus/ignore– fundagainAug 28, 2018 at 22:40
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1Is the coworker a native English speaker, and if so, what country is he from? (And, for that matter, what country are they in now?)– ruakhAug 28, 2018 at 22:52
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I’m not sure if the coworker is a native speaker. Both are in Japan.– AlexAug 28, 2018 at 23:21
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2 Answers
from google books:
to look past or by without seeing, hence to refrain from bestowing notice or attention upon Webster's Collegiate Dictionary
As in:
... if no, please ignore me when you see me next time!
As for the shoulder reference ... my guess here is to not even make eye contact.
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1@lbf: Might the person be alluding to his giving the OP the cold shoulder?– WordsterAug 29, 2018 at 0:17
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"Don't look past me" can mean "Don't ignore me", since "look past" can mean (amongst other things) ignore/snub Oxford Dictionary. So the phrase "Don't look past my shoulder" makes sense as "Don't ignore me".
Searching Google and Google Books in tight date ranges, the first mention of the exact phrase "look past my shoulder" is from the song Baba O'Riley by the The Who 1971.
