What is "the blessed turning"? It's from The Invisible Man
I didn't know the blessed turning, that was all! How the devil was I to know the blessed turning?
asked May 2, 2022 at 20:16
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2It is a euphemism for damn.– LambieMay 2, 2022 at 20:37
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2A turning is a side road off a main road - I didn't know which damned side road to turn into.– Michael HarveyMay 2, 2022 at 20:52
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4When quoting a novel, it helps if you can indicate more precisely where the quote is from. A chapter number or title, or a passage long enough to find in an online copy would help. A page number is of less use, because editions vary in their pagination.– David Siegel ♦May 2, 2022 at 22:42
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The Invisible Man is a very, very famous book. I don't think we need a link.– LambieMay 3, 2022 at 20:32
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It's a euphemism/minced oath for "damned" (i.e the opposite of blessed), which was considered a swear word in the past. It sounds quite old fashioned now.– Billy KerrJun 10, 2022 at 15:53
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2 Answers
The context of the passage makes things a bit clearer:
"If you give me the slip again," said the Voice, "if you attempt to give me the slip again-"
[...]
"I didn't try to give you the slip," said Marvel, in a voice that was not far remote from tears. "I swear I didn't. I didn't know the blessed turning, that was all! How the devil was I to know the blessed turning?"
The Voice - that being the Invisible Man of the title - is accusing his sidekick/odd job man of trying to escape from him (or give him the slip), and run away with his books. Mr. Marvel is insisting that he was not trying to escape, but that he didn't know the route he was supposed to take.
Blessed in this context is a euphemism used in place of a curse. It could be replaced with words like "damned", "blasted", or "bloody", all of which indicate anger or frustration with the subject; turning refers to a junction of roads or paths, a place where he was supposed to turn off the main path.
Mr. Marvel apparently carried the Invisible Man's books away from his base, but went the wrong way. The Invisible Man took this as sign of a betrayal and came after him.
If it has to be considered metaphorically from the given context, it seems like the character was in a situation where he didn't know the right choice about something. So he obviously took the bad one and it seems like he is justifying himself by saying how the hell should i know what the right choice was. Anyway more information is needed to clarify that.
