He hurled the apple towards me.

[Rollercoaster1]

1- He hurled the apple towards me.
2- He hurled the apple at me.

Does #1 mean that the apple was thrown for a catch, whereas #2 means that it was thrown to hit?

 

[emsr2d2]

If it was intended to be caught, I would use "He hurled the apple to me". For me, "towards" doesn't have a clear intention behind it. It could have been thrown with the intention of you catching it but it could have been thrown in your direction with the aim of hitting you.

 

[Phaedrus]

1- He hurled the apple towards me.
2- He hurled the apple at me.

Does #1 mean that the apple was thrown for a catch, whereas #2 means that it was thrown to hit?

If he threw it toward you with the intention of your catching it, the meaning would normally be expressed with an indirect object:

3- He tossed me the apple.

You can substitute "tossed" with "threw" but not with "hurled": "[strike]He hurled me the apple[/strike]" doesn't work.

If I had to use a prepositional construction instead of the indirect-object construction, I would either use "to" or the adverbial "my way":

3a- He tossed the apple to me.
3b- He tossed the apple my way.

P.S. Emsr2d2 made her post immediately above while I was composing this one.

 

[emsr2d2]

Both "He threw the apple to me" and "He threw me the apple" are used in BrE when talking about something being thrown with the intention of it being caught. I agree that "hurled" wouldn't be my immediate choice if catching it was the intention but it would depend on how far apart the two people were. If there was quite a large distance between them, the thrower probably would have to really hurl the ball in order for it to reach the catcher.

(Off-topic: I note that Rover changed my gender when editing the last post. I thought I felt a bit strange this morning!)

 

[Phaedrus]

I agree that "hurled" wouldn't be my immediate choice if catching it was the intention but it would depend on how far apart the two people were. If there was quite a large distance between them, the thrower probably would have to really hurl the ball in order for it to reach the catcher.

Yes, I too might use "hurl" if the two people were really far apart. Would you agree that "hurl" doesn't work with the indirect object (i.e., double object) construction? To my native AmE ears, "He hurled me the apple" sounds pretty bad. "Hurl(ed)" does have the virtue of being only one syllable, though. I'm not sure why it sounds so bad to me. Perhaps "He hurled me the apple" isn't as bad as "He catapulted me the apple." Either way, I definitely prefer "tossed" or "threw" in the indirect object construction:

He tossed me the apple.
He threw me the apple.
"Flung" also works: He flung me the apple.

Sorry for getting your gender wrong. I don't know the genders of Rover, TEDOL, or Teechar, either. All your user names provide no clue whatsoever.

 

[Skrej]

To me, 'hurled' suggests more of an intent to hit the person, rather than expecting them to catch it. As such, the only difference I see in the OP is the amount of precision.

"At' suggests to me a more aimed trajectory, whereas 'towards' is sort of just in the general direction.

 

[Phaedrus]

That's really interesting, Skrej. What about a case like this, though?

He hurled the apple through the air to his friend on the other side of the field.

 

[Skrej]

That one smacks more of desperation than malice, but still suggests more force than was perhaps strictly necessary.

I tend to associate 'hurl' with the intent to get rid of something, rather than just relay it, so that last one sounds a tad unnatural to me. I imagine that's just my own personal association, though.

 

[Rollercoaster1]

If it was intended to be caught, I would use "He hurled the apple to me". For me, "towards" doesn't have a clear intention behind it. It could have been thrown with the intention of you catching it but it could have been thrown in your direction with the aim of hitting you.

I have sent you a private message, but when I check my 'sent message' option it reads as 'empty---no sent messages' something likewise.

 

[Phaedrus]

I tend to associate 'hurl' with the intent to get rid of something . . . .

"Hurl" definitely carries that association in its slang meaning "to vomit," viz.:

The morning after his last debauch found him hurling into the toilet.

Uttered with emphatic stress, the word "hurl" is itself viscerally reminiscent of vomiting. Perhaps that's why I tend to find the verb unappealing.

If it was intended to be caught, I would use "He hurled the apple to me". For me, "towards" doesn't have a clear intention behind it. It could have been thrown with the intention of you catching it but it could have been thrown in your direction with the aim of hitting you. (emsr2d2, post #3)

The distinction emsr2d2 draws here between "to" and "towards" really stands out, I think, when "hurl" is used intransitively:

The apple hurled towards me.
The apple hurled at me.
?? The apple hurled to me.

"To" seems to want the intentionality of an actual agent, which an apple is not. "At" definitely calls forth the sense of malice that Skreg described, viz.:

Apples were hurling at me right and left, until I caught the little devil who was trying to pelt me with them from the other side of the orchard.

Interestingly, the other verbs that have come up (except catapult) don't work in the intransitive construction:

*[strike]The apple threw towards me.[/strike]
*[strike]The apple tossed towards me[/strike][strike].[/strike]
*[strike]The apple hit towards me.[/strike]
*[strike]The apple flung towards me.[/strike]
The apple hurled towards me.
The apple catapulted towards me.

That's because hurl and catapult are ergative verbs. The rest of the verbs are not.

Corrigendum to posts #4 and #6: Despite my not liking the double object construction with hurl and catapult, there are linguists who have endorsed the dative alternation with both verbs. They are listed by Stanford professor Beth Levin (in English Verb Classes and Alternations, 1993) as taking the dative alternation, along with other "verbs of throwing": bash, bat, bunt, catapult, chuck, flick, fling, flip, hit, hurl, kick, lob, pass, pitch, punt, shoot, shove, slam, slap, sling, throw, tip, toss. Thus, it should apparently be considered correct to say both "He hurled me the apple" and "He catapulted me the apple" along with "He hurled the apple to me" and "He catapulted the apple to me."

 

[emsr2d2]

I received your PM and replied to it. You need to check the box that says "Save my sent messages" (or something like that).

[Sorry, I hadn't noticed that RobertJ had already given you that information.]