all of a sudden (/ɔːl ʌv ə ˈsʌdn/)
phrase · Intermediate · Greetings & Phrases
🔊 /ɔːl ʌv ə ˈsʌdn/
Meaning
Meaning: suddenly
Happening quickly and unexpectedly, without warning.
Examples
🗣 All of a sudden, the lights went out.
Etymology
An expansion of ‘sudden’, with ‘all of a’ adding emphasis; used since the 1600s.
How & Where It’s Used
Common in storytelling and casual speech.
Literary Heritage
The phrase appears in Shakespeare’s ‘The Taming of the Shrew’.
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Tags: idiom