All of the sudden
Example: All of the sudden, the lights went out in the room.
Definition
"All of the sudden" is an informal expression used to describe something happening very quickly and unexpectedly, often without warning. For example, 'All of the sudden, the lights went out in the room' means the lights turned off abruptly and without notice.
Etymology
The phrase "all of the sudden" is a variation of the more standard 'all of a sudden,' which dates back to the 16th century. While 'all of a sudden' is considered correct, 'all of the sudden' has emerged as a common informal variant, especially in American English. The exact origin of this shift is uncertain, but it likely arose from regional dialects and casual speech patterns.
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"All of the sudden" appears in the Vocaplus list "English - General - Idioms and Proverbs - (A2) - set 1", containing 104 commonly used expressions.
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