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ESL forum > Grammar and Linguistics > "Out of expectation"...What exactly does it mean? Please help me :)    

"Out of expectation"...What exactly does it mean? Please help me :)



theblues
Vietnam

"Out of expectation"...What exactly does it mean? Please help me :)
 
This is the situation:

A: You shouldn �t have been drunk last night.
B: I know. It �s my first and last time. It was just....out of expectation.

"B" wants to say "I didn �t mean to get that drunk". Does the sentence "It was just out of expectation" express the similar meaning? If not, can the sentence "It was unexpected" replace?

Thanks in advance for your help :).

14 Mar 2010      





ballycastle1
United Kingdom

I think there are two possibilities here:
It was out of character (It was totally unlike behaviour that I normally display)
It was a one-off (I have never done this before and will never do it again).
 
�It was unexpected � could be used but would be more usually expressed as �I didn �t realise how intoxicated I was getting � but that �s a bit formal.  What about �I didn�t realise I was getting so drunk� ?
 
�Out of expectation � would never be used in this context. Rather, if would be used as in the sentence: My daughter came first in her end of year exams, out of all expectation. (i.e. I would never have expected her to achieve this outstanding result.) It �s the same as �exceeding all expectations �.

14 Mar 2010     



portugueseteacher
Portugal

"I wasn �expecting to get drunk" may be a possible answer.
The person hadn �t the intention of getting drunk or it was something "out of the blue"(smt totally expected).Hope this may help you,

14 Mar 2010     



theblues
Vietnam

@ Ballycastle1: Thanks so much for your reply. It really is helpful.

@portugeseteacher: I believe "out of the blue" means something that is totally surprising. Are you sure it can be used in this context?

14 Mar 2010