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All of a sudden

Posted by Smokey Stover on March 26, 2009 at 17:27

In Reply to: All of a sudden posted by ESC on March 26, 2009 at 15:40:

: : Where does the phrase 'all of a sudden' originate?

: We've had a discussion about this before. www.phrases.org.uk bulletin_board 26 messages 1166.html But we didn't come up with anything conclusive. I think, just a guess, that the phrase has its roots in silent films. Kind of like "Meanwhile, back at the ranch."

Victoria's discussion, now archived, explained the term very well. The expression, "of a sudden," was the most common form, found in the literature perused by the OED in 1570, and not yet completely obsolete. The OED found the form "all of a sudden" in a work written in 1681-66. This, of couse, is the most popular form today.

An alternative form, "on the sudden," has had a similar life-span, although the OED found it a bit earlier than the other.

Where did it come from? Well, the noun, sudden, is the modern spelling a word come to us from Anglo-French, "soudain." This, in turn, can probably be traced back to the Latin, "subire," to come or go stealthily.

I'm referring agaub to Victoria's explanation:

www.phrases.org.uk bulletin_board 26 messages 1166.html

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