# Forum Other Languages English for Russians - Изучаем английский язык Learn English - Грамматика, переводы, словарный запас  Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-two million miles is an...

## oldboy

> Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable  end  of the  western  spiral  
> arm  of  the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.
> Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-two million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea.

 Is _this_ _"a sun"_ mentioned above?   ©_ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy_: Intro, p.3

----------


## bitpicker

Yes.

----------


## Throbert McGee

Grammatically speaking, the antecedent of this could possibly be "the western spiral arm" or "the Galaxy."  
However, the phrase _a distance of roughly ninety-two million miles_ makes sense only if this refers to the yellow sun, in relationship to the "little blue-green planet." Note that the Galaxy is approximately 6x10^*17* miles in diameter (600 quadrillion in American terminology), compared with a mere 9x10^*7* miles between the Earth and the Sun! 
By the way, there's obviously no astronomical logic for using compass directions like "north" or "western" when talking about the Galaxy. However, a repeating theme of _HHGG_ is that familiar human institutions like bureaucracy, and loud rock music, and fashionable restaurants where it's very difficult to get a table, are found throughout the Universe. So in that context, it seems perfectly reasonable that extraterrestrial civilizations would refer to "the unfashionable end of the western arm of the Galaxy."

----------


## oldboy

Thanks a lot!

----------

