breaking concentration

[alpacinou]

Hello.

I am looking for an idiom or a verb which means to break someone's concentration when they are staring at something / someone.

Look at this example:

I was staring at the nice SUV outside my window when my secretary broke my concentration. "Sir, should I send the email now?", she asked, preventing me from enjoying the car.

What can I say instead of the underlined parts that is nicer and idiomatic? I thought about "reverie" but that is about dreaming and not seeing something real.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Reverie is fine.

I'd just delete the other line. It's unnecessary. And you weren't enjoying the car. You were enjoying looking at the car.

 

[alpacinou]

Is this okay?

I was staring at the nice SUV outside my window when my secretary interrupted my reverie. "Sir, should I send the email now?", she asked, preventing me from enjoying looking the car.

Do I have other options?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Use it if you want. It's not necessary. We already know, because you said "interrupted." That's what interrupted means.

A suggestion: If you want to enjoy some concise, focused writing with not a single wasted word, read a few books by Elmore Leonard. He was highly entertaining and would never repeat what he'd already said — a highly telegraphic style.

He wrote westerns and crime novels. The crime novels used especially economical language.

Several of his books have been made into movies. The biggest hit was Get Shorty:

 

[alpacinou]

Use it if you want. It's not necessary. We already know, because you said "interrupted." That's what interrupted means.

A suggestion: If you want to enjoy some concise, focused writing with not a single wasted word, read a few books by Elmore Leonard. He was highly entertaining and would never repeat what he'd already said — a highly telegraphic style.

He wrote westerns and crime novels. The crime novels used especially economical language.

Several of his books have been made into movies. The biggest hit was Get Shorty:

I see. So, this is better:

I was staring at the nice SUV outside my window when my secretary interrupted me. "Sir, should I send the email now?", she asked, preventing me from enjoying looking the car.

 

[emsr2d2]

I was staring at the nice SUV outside my window when my secretary interrupted me. "Sir, should I send the email now?", she asked, preventing me from enjoying looking at the car.

With my correction above, it's grammatically correct. It's not natural though (I can't imagine any native speaker using it).

 

[alpacinou]

With my correction above, it's grammatically correct. It's not natural though (I can't imagine any native speaker using it).

So, how would a native express that?

 

[emsr2d2]

She interrupted me to ask a boring question about an email. Damn! I was really enjoying looking at that Porsche!

 

[alpacinou]

She interrupted me to ask a boring question about an email. Damn! I was really enjoying looking at that Porsche!

I think it's too much for a Porsche! Maybe replace it with Ferrari LaFerrari.:-D But I appreciate the sentence.