out of the blue

English

Etymology

Short for out of the blue sky, likening an unexpected event to lightning or rain coming suddenly from a cloudless sky.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aʊt ɒv ðə bluː/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Prepositional phrase

out of the blue

1. (idiomatic) unexpectedly; without warning or preparation.

   After I hadn’t heard from her in six months, she called me out of the blue to meet for lunch.

   I really can't understand how something like this could simply pop up out of the blue.

Translations

unexpectedly

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 出其不意 (zh) (chūqíbùyì), 出乎意料 (zh) (chūhūyìliào)

• Czech: zčistajasna
• Danish: ud af det blå
• Dutch: uit het niets, zomaar (nl)
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: yllättäen (fi), kuin salama kirkkaalta taivaalta
• French: comme un cheveu sur la soupe (fr) (like a hair in the soup), comme un chien dans un jeu de quilles (fr) (like a dog in a bowling game), de nulle part (fr)
• German: (wie) aus heiterem Himmel, (wie) aus blauem Himmel, (wie) aus dem Nichts, aus dem Blauen heraus
• Hindi: please add this translation if you can
• Hungarian: a semmiből, hirtelen (hu), váratlanul (hu), meglepetésszerűen (hu)
• Icelandic: (like thunder from a clear sky) eins og þruma úr heiðskíru lofti, (like the devil from the sheep's leg) eins og skrattinn úr sauðaleggnum, (as a hard blow) sem reiðarslag, (like thunder from a blue sky) eins og þruma úr heiðríkju, öllum að óvörum
• Italian: inaspettatamente (it), di punto in bianco (it) (all of a sudden), come un fulmine a ciel sereno (like a thunder in a clear sky), dal nulla
• Japanese: 藪から棒,出し抜け (ja)
• Korean: 갑자기 (ko) (gapjagi)
• Latin: inexspectate
• Lithuanian: lyg perkūnas iš giedro dangaus (like a thunder in the clear sky)
• Maori: matawhawhati, whāia (nei) ka/kua
• Norwegian: ut av det blå, som lyn fra klar himmel (no)
• Polish: jak grom z jasnego nieba (pl), ni stąd, ni zowąd
• Portuguese: do nada (pt) (out of nowhere), da cartola (out of the top hat), à toa (pt)
• Romanian: din senin
• Russian: как гром среди ясного неба (like a thunder in the clear sky), как снег на голову (like snow onto the head)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ка̏о гро̑м из ве̏дра не̏ба (like a thunder from clear skies)

  Roman: kȁo grȏm iz vȅdra nȅba

• Spanish: de la nada, de repente (es), de sopetón (es)
• Swedish: som en blixt från klar himmel (sv) (like a lightning bolt out of a clear sky)
• Tamil: please add this translation if you can
• Telugu: please add this translation if you can
• Ukrainian: як сніг на голову (uk) (jak snih na holovu), як грім з ясного неба (jak hrim z jasnoho neba)
• Vietnamese: đang không

See also

• next thing one knows
• out of nowhere
• thin air
• bolt from the blue