Out of the blue is a commonly used idiom. Do you know it?
It’s used to describe an event that happened (or is happening) unexpectedly, without warning or preparation.
Photo Credit: Christian Sherratt
Here are some examples:
“Out of the blue, my parents decided to buy me a brand new car for my birthday. I’m so happy.”
“I hate it when out of the blue, things start going wrong.”
Conversation example
Jim: Melissa, you’ve been a good secretary at our company for two years now. Unfortunately, I have to let you go. We’ll pay you 2 months salary.
Melissa: Do you mean that you’re firing me?
Jim: Yeah, I’m afraid so. Out of the blue, our company lost millions of dollars this week in the global financial crisis. This has forced us to fire most of the staff.
Melissa: This is terrible! You know I really love this job. This whole thing is out of the blue for me. I still can’t believe it.
Jim: I know…I’m really sorry.
See if YOU can create some examples like these… after you have created them, you can write them in the comments section below!
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Mrs Li:Hi Ella,we’ll have an English examination tomorrow morning. Please tell your classmates,ok?
Ella:This is really out of blue for us, Mrs.Li. We haven’t prepared for it.
Mrs Li:Why haven’t you prepared for it in your spare time?
Ella:Umm…well I just wish it wasn’t out of blue for me.
Mrs Li: Hey, there’s no need to get nervous. Just keep a relaxed mood and believe in yourself.
Ella:Oh, I know…I will do my best!
Mrs Li:Hmm…Then, I’ll see you tomorrow.
Ella:See you.
A：Hey, guess what ?
B: What ?
A:Yesterday, my boyfriend send me a bouquet of roses, it was really out of blue.
B:Well, that’s nice. But you know I don’t usually like people doing things out of blue. I don’t like surprises.
A:In my opinion, if nothing happens out of the blue, life will be too boring. I can’t stand it if that happens.
B:Ok. I understand. I’m afraid we have to end this topic now. We need to go to library.
A:That’s fine. Let’s go!
This is so out of the blue! Usually these examinations are quite difficult but this examination is very easy.
Hi Iris! It’s a good situation to apply this idiom. Good work. We’ve just made a few changes to your dialogue. Keep it up!
Hi Makayla! Your example was good but it needed some extra details. We just edited it to have those extra details. Well done!
Jenny, your example for ‘out of the blue’ was really good. We particularly like the way you’ve tried to include it in a few places. Well done!