On the very day that I had come to this conclusion, I was standing at the Criterion Bar, when someone tapped me on the shoulder, and turning round I recognized young Stamford, who had been a dresser under me at Bart’s. The sight of a friendly face in the great wilderness of London is a pleasant thing indeed to a lonely man. In old days Stamford had never been a particular crony of mine, but now I hailed him with enthusiasm, and he, in his turn, appeared to be delighted to see me. In the exuberance of my joy, I asked him to lunch with me at the Holborn, and we started off together in a hansom.
我就此打定主意，正巧也在这一天，我站在克赖蒂里恩标准酒吧门前，有人拍拍我的肩膀，我回头一看，认得的，原来是小斯坦福，他以前在圣·巴多罗马医院当过我的助手。在这茫茫人海的伦敦，我孤零零举目无亲，能忽然见到一张熟人的脸，真是幸事。斯坦福和我以前谈不上是亲密的朋友，可眼下我喜出望外，忙不迭和他打招呼。而他呢，见到我显然也是十分高兴。欣喜之下，我邀请他到霍尔本区共进午餐，说着就乘上双座马车一起前往。
crony
A crony (rhymes with “pony”) is a buddy, a close confidant you spend time with and trust. Your boss might make everyone at work angry if she keeps only giving raises to her cronies.
While a crony is basically just a good pal or sidekick, the word sometimes has a negative connotation — that you and your crony are up to no good together. It also implies the idea of cronyism, or unfairly giving friends jobs or promotions they're not qualified for. Crony capitalism refers to doing that in an economic way, like people in government giving tax breaks to their friends. Crony is 17th century British student slang, from the Greek khronios, "long-lasting."
exuberance
Use exuberance to describe joyful enthusiasm and liveliness. You appreciate the natural exuberance of small children, but you prefer to enjoy it from a distance.
The noun exuberance comes from the adjective exuberant, which itself came from a Latin word that originally described an overflowing supply of milk from the udder of a cow or goat! The word still means "overflowing," not with milk but with joy and enthusiasm. After your winning home run, the fans ran onto the field and, in their exuberance, carried you off on their shoulders . . . before you touched home plate.
hansom
A hansom is an old-fashioned carriage that's pulled by a horse. There are still some cities where you can find a hansom to ride in for fun, but it's no longer the fastest way to get where you're going.
In the 1830s, the hansom, also called a hansom cab, was the latest way to get get around in busy cities. It was smaller than conventional horse-drawn carriages, which had four wheels and at least two horses. With only two wheels and a low center of gravity, hansoms were safe, light and agile, and could be pulled by just one horse. A man named Joseph Hansom patented what he dubbed the "Hansom safety cab" in 1834.
