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[golding]

"Each one of them shows off that trademark drift in a different light, be that nervous, controlled or lumbering."


Regarding the above sentence, I have no idea what the following sentence structure is: "be that nervous, controlled or lumbering."

And also, what is the meaning of "in a different light"? Thank you very much.

[dallen47]

Since light falling from different directions reveals different aspects of a scene so "In a different light" means "from another point of view."

From what you've brought here, the word "that" refers to the "showing off" of "that trademark drift." So, to put it another way,

"Each one of them shows off that trademark drift in a different light: nervous in one instance, controlled in another and lumbering in a third."

In other words, the "trademark drift" is all three: nervous, controlled and lumbering and "Each one of them" (whatever the writer is referring to as the source of intellectual insight or light) reveals a different aspect.

It is exceedingly tortured structure, difficult for a native English speaker.

[gofraidh34]

Different light; When you see something or someone in a different way from what you had expected.

They maybe "nervous" about a situation,
They may be acting in a controlled manner, (efficiently)
They may be Lumbering(useless or cumbersome).

Hope thats helpful.

[taryn31]

"Be" in this sentence is the present subjunctive, used to express something that is uncertain or hypothetical. Its use is increasingly rare in modern English, especially in informal speech. In this sentence it is equivalent to "whether that "light" should turn out to be nervous, or controlled or lumbering.".

[wethrby]

This sentence is more poetic. You would not normally speak like this.
Meaning : Some people have different set ways of explaining things, either nervously, or in a controlled way, or with uncertainty.