alla sprovvista

Literally, “at the lacking”. Compare French prendre au dépourvu.

alla sprovvista

1. (idiomatic) off guard
   • 2020, Barack Obama, chapter 15, in Chicca Galli, Paolo Lucca, Giuseppe Maugeri, transl., Una terra promessa [A Promised Land], Garzanti Libri:

     Sentire questi fatti così basilari dalla bocca di un presidente americano avrebbe colto molti ascoltatori alla sprovvista, immaginavo, e forse aperto la loro mente ad altre crude verità...

     Hearing such basic history from the mouth of a U.S. president would catch many people off guard, I figured, and perhaps open their minds to other hard truths...

     (literally, “Hearing such basic facts from the mouth of an American president would have caught many listeners off guard, I figured, and maybe open their minds to other raw truths...”)

• Often preceded by cogliere (“to catch”) or prendere (“to take”).