Idioms

out of the blue

This page is about the idiom out of the blue

Meaning

If something happens out of the blue, you're not expecting it to happen and you're surprised when it does.

For example

  • A letter came today, totally out of the blue, from a lawyer who said that an uncle I hadn't heard from in years had died and left me a million dollars. But then my alarm went off ... and I woke up.

  • A girl Barry had known years ago called him out of the blue and invited him to her wedding. He was very surprised, as you can imagine.

Quick Quiz

The economic crash came out of the blue. Nobody

a. had predicted it

b. had minded it

c. had understood it
a) had predicted it b) had minded it c) had understood it

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Common English Idioms

Contributor: Matt Errey