Its all oak and imo kinda a pointless thing to do aging a bright green expression so long it loses all character. Go for a nice old agricole instead. That said I love the 8 and the 4 year tocontinue positively surprising the world. Based on the collected information, the work of the expert workgroup, and the fi ndings of a workshop organised with international consultants, we developed a new brand positioning: Positively Surprising. This is the basic idea and message of the updated THE STORY OF CREATING BRAND ESTONIA Whatis most thought-provoking about these findings is not only how the expression of romantic feelings can vary across human cultures, but also that the idea of kissing not being seen as romantic – or even being considered disgusting – strikes us as unusual. Yet, this is the most common sentiment across cultures. Surprising job!” - that is the only expression that comes to mind when talking about Steve Buscemi, who served as a New York firefighter for four years. He became a famous actor, but Steve never forgot his old profession. Buscemi went to help his ex-colleagues when the World Trade Center collapsed. Now this is a feelgood story. Former Toronto Maple Leafs Tomas Kaberle is helping out amid the COVID-19 pandemic by delivering takeout orders from his wife's restaurant. The retired Czech player has been surprising fans by showing up at their doors and it's ridiculously wholesome stuff. The 42-year-old spent parts of 12 seasons as a Leaf Thisisn’t that surprising, but only a slim majority (51%) knew where New York was. According to Forbes and National Geographic, an alarming 29% couldn’t point to the Pacific Ocean. Founded in 2010, Thought Catalog is owned and operated by The Thought & Expression Company, Inc. For over a decade, we've been at the bleeding edge of media BvHuz. Do you ever hear a story and think to yourself, "I knew that" or "it's not surprising to me?" This week on Everyday Grammar, we will look at different ways to say that you are not surprised when you hear what someone says or does. One way to express this is by saying "it is no wonder." The word wonder is often used in English to express a feeling of unpredictability or uncertainty. On a recent episode of Ask a Teacher, we explained how to use wonder in a question. When using the expression “it is no wonder,” you are saying you really have no questions at all about this event. On a sunny day, for example, you might look outside the window and say, "It's no wonder that the park is crowded. The weather is beautiful!" Listen to the American singer James Swanberg telling about his relationship with a friend. This song says he's not surprised that they are together. It's No Wonder It's No Wonder We're Together Oh Cuz There's No One I Like Better It's No Wonder We're United Our next expression is “of course.” You can hear this saying every day when someone reacts to a statement that is almost always true. A Ahmed stayed late last night to help with our project. B Of course. He's very generous with his time. Another expression that you will hear when somebody is not surprised is "it figures." If you just look at the word "figure," you might imagine this has something to do with mathematics and adding up numbers. But in fact, the person who says "it figures" is putting together ideas and recognizing that their thoughts about those ideas are correct. The Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette tells about an incident like this in her hit song “Ironic.’ It's a free ride when you've already paid It's the good advice that you just didn't take And who would've thought—it figures! The singer is telling us that she thinks - or figures - that bad things will always happen to her. Another expression used when someone is not surprised is "what do you expect?" 1 Those kids across the street are so loud. 2 What do you expect? They're celebrating their graduation. Finally, let's look at how people use the word typical. It is often used when you are unhappy or dissatisfied with something that has happened. 1 The bus is late, so I can't make it to the meeting on time. 2 Typical! You should take the train. It's more dependable. Differences between these expressions Now, let’s review what we discussed today. The first two expressions, "it's no wonder" and "of course," can be used for an approving or positive reaction to an event. But the second two expressions, "it figures" and "typical," usually show more of negative, or not so nice, reaction. Listen for these expressions the next time you are watching an American television show or movie. Try to use them when you are speaking English, and your listeners will know that you are not surprised. I'm John Russell. Jill Robbins wrote this story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story park – n. a piece of public land in or near a city that is kept free of houses and other buildings and can be used for pleasure and exercise of course – used to show that what is being said is very obvious or already generally known generous – adj. providing more than the amount that is needed or normal abundant or ample typical – adj. happening in the usual way; normal for a person, thing, or group average or usual review – v. to study or look at something again positive – adj. thinking about the good qualities of someone or something thinking that a good result will happen hopeful or optimistic We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section. I was recently surprised to learn that surprised is a nemesis for many writers. It appears with a surprising frequency in surprisingly many WIPs. No worries The Surprise EMTs are en route. Emotion Beats and Physical Manifestations Rather than say characters are surprised, you could show their emotional state with beats like the following. blinking breathless voice clutching one’s chest with one or both hands covering one’s ears with hands feeble voice gaping jaw hiding one’s face with hands or hair legs that tremble pressing a hand against one’s chest, with fingers splayed wide pressing fingers against one’s gaping mouth quick flash of a frown on one’s face quickly elevating one’s eyebrows and accompanying them with protuberant “flashbulb” eyes raised and curved brows raising one’s chin raising one’s eyebrows shaky voice sudden audible inhalation through one’s mouth touching one’s face or lips with fingers widening one’s eyes so much that the whites show wrinkles across the forehead To find more examples, search Google Images for body language surprised, or consult a body language dictionary. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Dialogue Can you see the surprise in the paragraphs below? “I swear, Marvin’s jaw dropped two feet when he heard Lucy was coming back to town.” “When I came around the corner and spotted the cougar, I thought I was hallucinating. A cougar in LA?” “Who could have known that a brand new tire would blow up the first time I took the car out? Wow! That’s all I can say. Wow.” “You gotta be kidding. How do you expect me to cram all these suitcases into the trunk?” “Ow! That’s hot.” “Why are you calling me at 2 “Mother! Is that your luggage? I thought you were overseas.” Texts When people are surprised, they tend to use shortcuts in texts — avoiding numbers, symbols, and punctuation. Here are a few that might suit your WIP. AYS are you serious? FAB fabulous FCOL for crying out loud HFAC holy flipping animal crackers IDBI I don’t believe it LTNS long time no see OB oh brother OMG omigosh OMGYGTBK omigosh you got to be kidding SMHID scratching my head in disbelief SU shut up [an expression of incredulity] TGTBT too good to be true TMTH too much to handle UGTBK you’ve got to be kidding WWNC will wonders never cease YGTBKM you’ve got to be kidding me YWHOL yelling woo hoo out loud Social Media The internet is swarming with an ever-changing glut of social media outlets, all with their own lingo and abbreviations. Learn the vernacular if you introduce one of these sites to your narrative — or invent a new social network. Who knows, your creativity could catch the notice of a tech guru and result in the launch of yet another way for people to spend their time. Good? Bad? Depends on your point of view. Adjectives and Adjectival Phrases Consider intensity of emotion when replacing surprised. An awestruck character feels more intensely than one who is startled. A to G agape, aghast, agog, amazed, astonished, astounded, awed, awestruck, blown away, boggled, bowled over, bug-eyed, confounded, dazed, dumbfounded, filled with awe, filled with wonder, flabbergasted, floored, gobsmacked H to W horror-struck, incredulous, jolted, openmouthed, overcome, overwhelmed, shaken, shell-shocked, shocked, speechless, staggered, startled, stunned, stupefied, taken aback, thunderstruck, unnerved, wide-eyed, wonderstruck, wordless Similes and Metaphors A character’s state of surprise could be compared to, contrasted with, or portrayed as [amazing, rare, uncommon] as an honest politician dazed as a frog about to be swallowed by a snake like a bat blinded by the sun like a deer mesmerized by headlights like a kid who receives a computer instead of a baseball mitt as a birthday present like a shark chomping on a leg and discovering it’s covered by chainmail like an infant’s first glimpse of the world outside its mother’s body like the taste of coffee when one expects tea unexpected as a rare steak when a character orders it well-done unexpected as snow in [a summer month] unusual as [booze at an AA meeting, rain in the Sahara Desert] – The Versatility of Verbs and Phrasal Verbs In your determination to decrease overuse of surprised, you might decide to rely on one of the following, many of which are cliché or idiomatic. Although trite phrases function well in certain types of dialogue, avoid them in serious narrative. appear [all of a sudden, out of left field, out of nowhere] blindside someone blow someone away blow someone’s mind bowl someone over burst in on someone bushwhack someone catch someone [in the act, napping, off balance, off guard, red-handed, unawares] cause someone to [be speechless, do a double-take, jump out of their skin, root to the spot] drop a bombshell on someone fill someone with [awe, wonder] knock someone [for six, down/over with a feather] knock someone’s socks off knock the stuffing out of someone leave someone [aghast, open-mouthed] make someone’s jaw drop raise someone’s eyebrows render someone speechless set someone back on their heels shake someone up stop someone dead in their tracks strike someone [dumb, with amazement, with awe, with wonder] take someone [aback, unawares] take someone’s breath away throw someone [a curveball, for a loop] More Verbs and Phrasal Verbs Instead of surprise as a verb, try one of the following. A to W alarm, amaze, astonish, astound, awe, bedazzle, benumb, bewilder, cause [amazement, astonishment, incredulity, shock], confound, daze, dazzle, disturb, dumbfound, electrify, flabbergast, floor, gobsmack, jar, jolt, nonplus, rock, scandalize, shake up, shell-shock, shock, stagger, startle, stun, stupefy, wow Nouns Instead of relying on the noun surprise to refer to a character’s emotional state, you could substitute one of the following words or phrases. Pay attention to connotation and degree of emotion. For example, a hiccup implies different circumstances than a kick in the face. A to M amazement, astonishment, awe, bewilderment, body blow, bolt from/out of the blue, bombshell, conversation stopper, curveball, doozy, epiphany, eureka moment, eye-opener, a first, glitch, hiccup, incomprehension, incredulity, jaw dropper, jolt, kick [in the face, up the backside], kicker, manna from heaven, marvel, miracle O to Z one for the books, puzzlement, revelation, rude awakening, setback, shock, shocker, source of amazement, spectacle, stunner, stupefaction, thunderbolt, twist, unexpected revelation, unforeseen event, whammy, wonder, wonderment, wrinkle, zinger Props Well-chosen props augment a story by sparking new twists or subplots. Would one of the following suit your narrative? DNA results that show a character is related to _____ an empty box of chocolates a failing grade on an essay or exam firecrackers a flat tire flowers from an anonymous admirer a free upgrade to first-class on an overseas flight a “gunshot” that turns out to be [an exploding baked potato, lightning, a vehicle collision] a horse that shies at _____ a “male” dog that has a litter of puppies a nest of fire ants a one-star review on a book a parking ticket a pearl in an oyster someone is eating a phone call from an ex who hasn’t called the character in years a porch pirate who turns out to be [the character’s ex, a homeless person, a raccoon, a raven, a relative] a robbery where only [something cheap and/or insignificant] is stolen a slip and fall on the ice a speeding ticket a two-headed chicken the turndown of a marriage proposal Are You Interested in More Word Lists and Writing Tips? If you haven’t done so already, please subscribe to my blog. The link will take you to the subscription widget at the top left of this post. I usually post two to five times monthly, and you can discontinue your subscription at any time. – This post contains affiliate you experience something unexpectedly and suddenly, you become surprised. However, on many occasions, some of you may wonder how to express that feeling of surprise in English. Well! In this post, I’ll share 99 English expressions that you can use to respond when you experience something surprising.“It’s so surprising!” & “I can’t believe it?” are the most common expressions in English to express surprise. While expressing surprise, your facial expression, body language, and voice tone must express surprise too. Here are 99 examples that show expressing surprises in English. However, if you are looking for a platform where you can practice English and master your desired English skills, you may check my recommended Best English Learning Platforms. Besides paid learning, these platforms offer tons of free lessons too. You can also check what offers are available for ESL Advice can’t believe it. Are you sure that you finished it?I can’t believe my ears. I am so happy that you finally got it after all can’t believe my eyes. It’s good to see your room, so artistically can’t think of it. I thought it was done can’t even believe that I made it! I’m so can’t take it. Please say that you are didn’t have a clue about this. Good to know that you got a surprise don’t believe a word of it. It was supposed to happen next don’t believe it. You were to get a more significant increment this don’t think so. Are you sure he is here?I don’t trust you. You might be kidding. How come I become the manager?I find it extraordinary. I didn’t think I could experience such a place in my find it hard to believe. How come you are planning to leave the city?I find that very surprising. Can you reconfirm the news?I found it completely unbelievable. How could he get the award in this category?I never even dreamed. Thanks to the almighty that I got such a good never expected it. Very happy to see you bringing my favorite never thought this would happen. I got no clue that she was preparing her for the competition that utterly surprised to hear it. I thought he could be the first person coming here to help you in this shocked that you made this mistake. Please be careful next entirely at a loss. How can it happen to such a good employee?I’m completely surprised. Thanks for coming back that really a small world. You see, we met news to me. Very happy to hear that you got the unbelievable. How can a cricket team be such unprofessional?It can’t be true. Is life really that beautiful? Oh my God!Is that really true? I just can’t believe what you that so? Are you sure about that?Is that the fact? I think you should recheck this what I see? I can’t believe my own this what I have to believe? I didn’t expect it at had no idea. This is so surprising that you are again must say it surprised me. I never thought I’d get my phone got no clue. Do you know how it happened?Are you for real? You are finally here again!Are you kidding me? You told me yesterday that she had left the you serious? You’re on the way!That’s a surprise. Thanks, hard to believe. Life is so impossible. Don’t tell me to believe incredible! My best wishes for your new very surprising! I feel proud of is such a pleasant surprise. Thanks for always being beside is amazing! I always wanted to have such a surprised me like anything. Thank you so much, my God. I never expected that my team would my gosh. This is really a great surprise for no! That’s not true. You are getting me no! You were not supposed to go come on! I think you are really? Are you sure that she did it?Oh lord! I can’t believe Please don’t say that you have done it The road is too narrow to drive the What a beautiful place!Oh! What a victory!Oh! This is scorching heat I got no clue what to do a nice surprise! Thank you so much, a wonder! I am completely is the world coming to? People are so I can’t accept that she is not How can she deny that?What! I don’t know anything, but she has to attend the How can you think about going outside in this health?What! Why didn’t you go to school today?What! How did it happen?You also don’t believe it. Do you?You don’t say that you did must be kidding me. Am I right?You must be joking. Isn’t it?You would not also believe what I joking! I am damn kidding, aren’t you?You’re not serious. Please kidding! Tell me the truth, way. I must reconfirm man! That’s I must say this is entirely a new experience for You are too early!Ah! Everything is out of our control now, just for a silly How have you got it?Ah! This is a blunder, I must This is an utter disappointment. You crashed You have spoiled the entire Are you sure about it? I don’t find it You were supposed to be more I have seen everything. It surprised me I have got it all. It’s not acceptable. I am utterly enough. I don’t believe it above, you are kidding. I’m very surprising. Have you done cross-checking?My goodness. How can she be so stupid?Really? Did you say it?Seriously? You think about her like this!There is a first time for everything. I had to believe I don’t even know how I managed would have thought like this? This was totally make me laugh. I don’t believe you are looking for an ESL course that may help you to achieve your goal, I suggest you check my recommended best online English courses. I have tested several online courses and decided to make this shortlist that includes a variety of courses. I believe, as an ESL learner, you will get suggestions for courses related to all skills listening, speaking, reading, writing, pronunciation, Tips to Express Surprise in EnglishBe genuine and authentic in expressing your surprise. Use appropriate words based on the level of your facial expression, body language, and voice tone can help you better communicate your sure that you don’t offend someone by expressing your surprise. Instead, be polite and think about how much you can show your about the setting—formal and informal. Be very careful and picky about word choice when you are in a formal to maintain a positive attitude, even if the surprise comes you are eager to improve your conversational and other skills with the help of some essential books, you may check my recommended best English learning ConclusionAppropriately expressing emotions is crucial for good communication, no matter which language you speak. I hope this post will help you learn some expressions in English to express for reading!Happy learning!Niaj A A Khan is an ESL Instructor with over 7 years of experience in teaching & developing resources at different universities and institutes. Mr. Khan is also a passionate writer working on his first book, "Learn English at Ease." verb used with object,surprised, surpris strike or occur to with a sudden feeling of wonder or astonishment, as through unexpectedness Her beauty surprised come upon or discover suddenly and unexpectedly We surprised the children raiding the cookie make an unexpected assault on an unprepared army, fort, person, etc..to elicit or bring out suddenly and without warning to surprise the facts from the lead or bring unawares, as into doing something not intended to surprise a witness into telling the act or instance of surprising or being that surprises someone; a completely unexpected occurrence, appearance, or statement His announcement was a surprise to assault, as on an army or a fort, made without coming upon unexpectedly; detecting in the act; taking about surprisetake by surprise, to come upon astonish; amaze The amount of the donation took us completely by of surprise1First recorded in 1425–75; noun late Middle English, from Anglo-French surprise, Middle French, past participle of surprendre, equivalent to sur- sur-1 + pris masculine, prise feminine, from Latin prēnsus, -sa, equivalent to prēndere, contracted variant of prehendere “to take” see prehension + -tus, -ta past participle suffix; verb late Middle English surprisen, from Anglo-French surprise past participle, Middle French, as abovesynonym study For surprise1. Surprise, astonish, amaze, astound mean to strike with wonder because of unexpectedness, strangeness, unusualness, etc. To surprise is to take unawares or to affect with wonder surprised at receiving a telegram. To astonish is to strike with wonder by something unlooked for, startling, or seemingly inexplicable astonished at someone's behavior. To amaze is to astonish so greatly as to disconcert or bewilder amazed at such an evidence of stupidity. To astound is to so overwhelm with surprise that one is unable to think or act astounded by the story For surpriseThe English noun surprise comes from late Middle English, from Anglo-French and Middle French surprisee, a noun use of the past participle of surprendre “to seize, grasp,” literally, “to overtake," from the French prefix sur- “excessive, over-,” and the verb prendre “to take.” The original 15th-century meaning of the English noun was “an unexpected or sudden attack without warning” a surprise attack, therefore, was a redundancy. In the 19th century, the term surprise party came into use with two disparate senses the earlier one was “a body of soldiers prepared to make a sudden, stealthy attack,” which held close to the original sense of surprise; the second, slightly later one was “a party or celebration planned for someone as a surprise,” which of course has survived as the meaning familiar to us today. Other words from surprisesurprisedly [ser-prahy-zid-lee, -prahyzd-, suh-], /sərˈpraɪ zɪd li, -ˈpraɪzd-, sə-/, adverbsurpriser, nounsupersurprise, noununsurprised, adjectiveWords Nearby surprisesurplussurplusagesurplus valuesurprintsurprisalsurprisesurprise partySurprise Symphonysurpr Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023How to use surprise in a sentenceThat his extracurricular activity as a vaccine appointment coordinator was going on during school hours came as a surprise to his the end, their perception of cold had lessened—no surprise to anyone who has noticed how the same temperature that felt miserably cold for a run in November can feel delightfully warm in surprise here, since the latter was loosely based on our shouldn’t come as a surprise as more consumers expecting their favorite brands’ values to align with their the many surprises of the past year, it turns out that one tiny squirrel can provide tremendous Stone would slander the democratic, pro-Western, EuroMaidan revolution as a CIA coup is no surprise marriage to theater director Sophie Hunter may have broken hearts, but the squeals of delight were even news came as a surprise even to fans of Gordon-Levitt, who was only photographed with McCauley for the first time last Of all the interviews I did Lee Marvin was by far the biggest my own surprise, last year I started a book club, which includes writers, editors and an was busy loading the piece when an exclamation of surprise from one of the men made me look flash of surprise and pleasure lit the fine eyes of the haughty beauty perched up there on the palace was the surprise of Alf at the honour and labour thus thrust upon him, but he did not shrink from murmurs of doubt and surprise reached the ears of two of the British Harry's surprise, the soldier detailed to go with him proved to be a boy, not much older than Dictionary definitions for surpriseverbtrto cause to feel amazement or wonderto encounter or discover unexpectedly or suddenlyto capture or assault suddenly and without warningto present with something unexpected, such as a giftfoll by into to provoke someone to unintended action by a trick, etc to surprise a person into an indiscretionoften foll by from to elicit by unexpected behaviour or by a trick to surprise information from a prisonernounthe act or an instance of surprising; the act of taking unawaresa sudden or unexpected event, gift, etcthe feeling or condition of being surprised; astonishmentmodifier causing, characterized by, or relying upon surprise a surprise movetake by surprise to come upon suddenly and without warningto capture unexpectedly or catch unpreparedto astonish; amazeOrigin of surprise1C15 from Old French, from surprendre to overtake, from sur- 1 + prendre from Latin prehendere to grasp; see prehensileDerived forms of surprisesurprisal, nounsurprised, adjectivesurprisedly səˈpraɪzɪdlɪ, adverbsurpriser, nounCollins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012Other Idioms and Phrases with surprisesee take by American Heritage Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Are you looking for some useful surprise idioms? You are in the right place. In our next post, we will look at 21 useful surprise idioms. 1. Out Of The Blue Meaning Something sudden and completely In A Sentence Joe announced out of the blue that he was moving out of state. 2. To Do A Double Take Meaning To take a second look at something usually because you are surprised or In A Sentence John did a double-take as he saw his girlfriend walk into the room all dressed up. 3. To Be Taken by Surprise Meaning To be startled by someone or something; to catch someone off guard. Something happens when you are not ready for In A Sentence She was completely taken by surprise by how many people showed up at the party. 4. To Be Caught Off Guard Meaning To be taken by In A Sentence Jessica caught him off guard when she told her manager that she wanted to quit her job. 5. To Stop Dead In One’s Tracks Meaning To instantly stop moving after hearing or seeing something In A Sentence He stopped dead in his tracks when he heard the bad news about Shirley. 6. To Drop A Bombshell Meaning To reveal something that is a surprise or In A Sentence Jason just dropped a bombshell and told everyone he was getting married. I didn’t even know he was dating. 7. Element Of Surprise Meaning Doing something secretly to catch someone off guard or to surprise In A Sentence We need the element of surprise to plan the party without her finding out. 8. One’s Jaw Drop Meaning Someone opens their mouth because they are greatly surprised or heard something In A Sentence Our jaws dropped when we found out how much money he was making every month. 9. To Be Struck Dumb Meaning To not be able to speak after hearing something surprising or In A Sentence He was struck dumb when he found out how Sarah dumped her boyfriend. 10. Rooted To The Spot Meaning To be unable to move because of hearing or seeing something In A Sentence Julie stood rooted to the spot when he told her the bad news about her mom. 11. To Knock Someone Down With A Feather Meaning used to describe someone who is In A Sentence You could have knocked me down with a feather when I heard that she won the contest. 12. To Come As No Surprise Meaning Something that you know will happen. Use In A Sentence It came as no surprise that Gary quit his job today. 13. To Knock Someone’s Socks Off Meaning To surprise someone; to startled them. It can also mean to impress In A Sentence The bad news nearly knocked her socks off. 14. Words Fail Me Meaning an expression used to describe someone that can no longer talk because they are so surprised by something that they can’t think of good words to describe how they In A Sentence How do you feel about the good news? Words fail me! 15. To Raise Someone’s Eyebrows Meaning To cause others to be surprised by saying or doing something In A Sentence He definitely raised some eyebrows when he walked into the school with blue hair. 16. A Bolt From The Blue Meaning Something unexpected or In A Sentence His decision to move back home was a bolt from the blue. 17. An Eye Opener Meaning The idea of widening your eyes because of hearing or seeing something surprising/ In A Sentence Hearing about how Mario got in a car accident after work on Friday was a real eye-opener. 18. Blown Away Meaning used to describe when a person is thoroughly impressed by someone or something. Usually when it is not In A Sentence I was blown away by how good he did on his speech. 19. To Take Someone’s Breath Away Meaning To shock a person with feelings of excitement, surprise, or some other In A Sentence It took her breath away when she saw her daughter walking down the aisle in that beautiful dress. 20. One Can Hardly Believe One’s Eyes Meaning Something so surprising or so shocking that you can’t believe it is In A Sentence I can hardly believe my eyes. Joe and Stephanie are here to see me. 21. Well, I’ll Be A Monkey’s Uncle Meaning An expression of surprise or In A Sentence Well, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle, Jessica convinced her parents to come to the wedding. There you have it! 21 different idioms to use to express feelings of surprise of amazement. Did we miss one? Please share your comments below.

this is an expression of surprising