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

(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

out of the blue

English

Etymology

Pronunciation

Prepositional phrase

Translations

See also