OUT OF THE BLUE

Something that happens “out of the blue” occurs without warning. It probably originates from the longer phrase, “a bolt out of the blue.”

The phrase refers to a clear blue sky, from which nothing unusual would be expected [1].

Examples:

“‘I was given the idea that something was going to happen, but I didn’t know that it was going to be the club being sold,’ he told BBC Radio Cornwall. ‘It came as a complete bolt out of the blue to me and to everyone else on the playing and management staff.’”

“Keith Wilson, from Liverpool, had a heart attack out of the blue at 37.”

“Paul Hymas, a spokesman for the Le Port campervan users, said that the minister’s decision was ‘out of the blue’ and made without speaking to them, despite assurances that ‘stakeholders’ would be consulted on any proposals for regulating the site.”


A similar phrase “out of a clear blue sky” has the same meaning.

e.g. “Out of a clear blue sky, I heard my name and looked up. The teacher was looking at me with a quizzical expression.”


[1] “blue” In Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms, edited by Ayto, John. Oxford University Press, 2009.

Photo credit: Jim Culp