Reader's question:  The two men appeared out of nowhere, a few yards apart in the narrow, moonlit lane.

Could you explain “out of nowhere”?

My comments:

“Out of nowhere” means all of a sudden, to everyone’s surprise.

In other words unexpectedly. No-one had seen the two men before. No-one knows where they came from. They were not anywhere near the scene. It’s as though they emerged from thin air.

Another similar expression is “out of the blue”. For example, you’re queuing up for tickets and out of the blue the man next in line says to you: “Your name’s John, isn’t it?”

Whether or not your name’s John doesn’t matter, you get the picture, or feeling – total surprise.

Related stories:

With bells on

No harm, no foul

Pick up the slack

length and breadth of

get up to speed on something

Borrowed time

On a shoestring

Shake a leg

Sing to a new tune

Truth lies somewhere in the middle

For all intents and purposes

Past praying for

Nay saying

Kick sth.when it's down

Opening credits

Give somebody a piece of your mind

God only knows

Speak of the devil

Hold a candle to

本文僅代表作者本人觀點(diǎn)，與本網(wǎng)立場(chǎng)無關(guān)。歡迎大家討論學(xué)術(shù)問題，尊重他人，禁止人身攻擊和發(fā)布一切違反國家現(xiàn)行法律法規(guī)的內(nèi)容。

Zhang Xin has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.