penetrate into somebody

[q3mi4]

hello!
i do not quite understand the way it works with the word "penetrate".
there are a father and a daughter meeting after 15 years he spent in prison, you can think there are tensions between them.

- you know, i was so sure you were going to be a boy. did you now that?

silence as he penetrates into her.

- so you're in college now, huh?

is it a penetrating look or the way he is asking?
one way or another, please try to tell the sentence above in other words, probably with some describing adjectives.

thanx for your help!

UPD both of them are sitting in a cafe, so a penetration of a penis into a vagina is out of question i guess
it is an original screenplay i have to translate by i dont know whom. an american writer however

 

[mgarizona]

Unless he's raping her, that's TERRIBLE English

It could be TRYING to mean a lot of different things, no way of knowing.

 

[mgarizona]

If 'penetrating look' is the author's intention, it would have to be something like " ... as his eyes drilled into her."

To 'penetrate a subject' means to gain profound understanding about something, but to use it in reference to a person--- "I was able to penetrate into the very core of her being"--- would be laughable.

Sorry I can't help you. Who wrote this?

 

[badgrammar]

I think I've actually heard this usage before, it means that he concentrates and focuses in on her, trying (and perhaps succeeding) at reading her thoughts... Very much like Mgarizona's second example, as laughable as it may sound, it is probably close to the meaning. You can penetrate someone's mind, someone's thoughts, etc.......

 

[panjandrum]

silence as he penetrates into her.

It can't be the way he is asking the questions - after all, there is silence at this point.
It can only be the way he is looking at her

Perhaps it would be easier to translate from:

Silence, as he stares penetratingly at her.

- or more gently:
Silence, as he stares intently at her.

 

[q3mi4]

silence as he penetrates into her.
It can't be the way he is asking the questions - after all, there is silence at this point.

Sure, I put it in wrong words. I meant the atmosphere of their conversation as a whole, the way he is (uncomfortably to her?) talking/being silent, even (as badgrammar suggested) reading her thoughts, which is very likely, since he knows something (not only about her at this point) he never learned, like the name of her favourite teacher for example (they never met since she was five)

 

[Iskia]

I hope the following could be of some help:

intransitive verb: b: to pierce something with the eye or mind : see or enable to see into or through something hidden or obscure <strained his eyes to penetrate beyond the thick cloud of dust> <a telescope that penetrates to the remote parts of the universe> <insight that penetrates to the very heart of some ... problem W.F.Hambly>

from Merriam-Webster's unabridged dictionary

 

[mgarizona]

I hope the following could be of some help:
Quote:
intransitive verb: b: to pierce something with the eye or mind : see or enable to see into or through something hidden or obscure <strained his eyes to penetrate beyond the thick cloud of dust> <a telescope that penetrates to the remote parts of the universe> <insight that penetrates to the very heart of some ... problem W.F.Hambly>

from Merriam-Webster's unabridged dictionary

Thanks Iskia, but everyone shd pay attention that it says "to pierce something," "to see into something." It's not a word that can be used in reference to a person, as it is in the sample sentence, without sexual implication.