Talk:lo and behold

lo and behold authors and history
= From Wikipedia:Talk:lo and behold =
 * 2005-07-15 12:56:08 User:Radiant!
 * 2005-05-09 02:01:04 User:Sn0wflake

lo and behold
Rfv-sense. I thought that this expression meant something more akin to "Well, what do you know?!", a mocking surprise. Certainly not "suddenly". __meco 09:23, 6 January 2009 (UTC)


 * You are right. lo is an old word meaning look, and this phrase usually indicates that some (bad but predictable) event or behaviour has been witnessed. I am finding it difficult to come up with a suitable definition, though. Chambers has this: "(often facetious) used to signal a startling revelation". Equinox 10:02, 6 January 2009 (UTC)
 * FWIW: OALD: "(humorous) used for calling attention to a surprising or an annoying thing" --Duncan 11:57, 6 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Perhaps something alluding to the sense of the German schadenfroh:. __meco 10:17, 6 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Seems the English has absorbed this as schadenfreude:. Even gloating: would be relevant. __meco 10:23, 6 January 2009 (UTC)
 * It's not necessarily used gloatingly or with schadenfreude. Example: "He promised me he'd never leave me, and the next day lo and behold he's with another girl!" This speaker could be justifiably upset. Equinox 23:20, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

RFV failed, sense replaced with. —Ruakh TALK 01:09, 12 May 2009 (UTC)