"turned with another" - U.K. English?

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May 15, 2011 09:30
***Quoting from p242 of Douglas Adams's book Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency:

"Well, thank you very much indeed, Mr Coleridge," said Dirk, as he emerged, fiddling with his hat and bowing, "you have been most kind and generous with your time, and I do appreciate it very much, as I'm sure will my readers. I'm sure it will work up into a very nice little article, a copy of which you may rest assured I will send you for you to peruse at your leisure. I will most certainly welcome your comments if you have any, any points of style, you know, hints, tips, things of that nature. Well, thank you again, so much, for your time, I do hope I haven't kept you from anything important-"

The door slammed violently behind him.

Dirk turned with another in a long succession of triumphant beams and hurried down the path to Richard.

***End quote

In the last sentence, what is the "with another" referring to? Another turn? Another triumphant beam? This is an unusual expression to me.

Thanks in advance for your help.

雅各 .*★*.
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markbellis
May 15, 2011 09:37

Yes, a triumphant beam is Adams' way of saying 'a beaming smile' - a big smile that's like a bright or beaming light. So he is turning around with another beaming smile - wakarimasu?

May 15, 2011 09:55 tony
"another in a long succession of triumphant beams" boils down to "another beam," which as bellis-san explained, means a beaming smile. "A long succession of [~]s" is many [~]s, one after another. This "one additional beaming smile" joins the succession of earlier beaming smiles. Examples:

There was a long succession of explosive sounds, and then the car engine died completely.

The engine gave out another in a long succession of explosive sounds, and then died completely.

He inherited a great deal of money from his parents, but a long succession of business failures quickly diminished this fortune.

It looks like he is facing yet another in a long succession of business failures.



May 15, 2011 15:39 雅各
Thanks so much Markさん and Tonyさん!

I appreciate your help.

My reading skills have really gone down the tube. I misunderstood the sentence to read "Dirk turned with another", instead of "with another in a long succession of triumphant beams". The latter, of course, can be omitted from the sentence and it would still make perfect sense.

May 15, 2011 21:18 markbellis
Here comes a big word - Adams wrote very idiosyncratically - he sometimes made up his own words - I don't think anyone else would say "a series of beams". We can understand it, but it is a challenge for someone who is learning English.

May 15, 2011 21:23 雅各
Hi Markさん! I agree. His writing is very unique and, as you say, idiosyncratic.

I'm rereading a bunch of his books and planning to put Adams behind me, as there's a whole lot of other stuff to be read.
Aug 20, 2012 06:15
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***Quoting from p242 of Douglas Adams's book Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency: "Well, thank you very much indeed, Mr Coleridge," said Dirk, as he emerged, fiddling with his hat and bowing, "you have been most kind and generous with your time, and I do appreciate it very much, as I'm sure wi


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