出乎预料 (chū hū yù liào) — beyond expectation; to exceed expectations

Definition

A fixed expression meaning something turned out different from what was expected — 'beyond expectation, unexpectedly'. Used as a predicate or with 地 before an adjective/verb (出乎预料地便宜), more literary than everyday 出乎意料.

verb
beyond expectationto exceed expectations

Examples

  • 出乎预料。
    Zhè ge jié guǒ wán quán chū hū yù liào.
    This result is completely unexpected.
  • 出乎预料。
    Tā de chéng gōng chū hū yù liào le dà jiā de yù liào.
    His success exceeded everyone's expectations.
  • 出乎预料。
    Tiān qì chū hū yù liào dì biàn lěng le.
    The weather unexpectedly turned cold.

Origin

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

出 combines 止 (foot) and 凵 (cave) to show a foot stepping out of a cave.

Open 出 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 丂丂kǎobranch

The old 乎 paired an element for wind or air with 丂, a branch used as a sound part, and was the original form of the word for 'to call; to cry'.

Open 乎 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 預; 预 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yè
Sound part声符shēngfú
予
予yǔ預yù
Same sound today

The traditional form 預 combines 予 for the sound and 頁 for the meaning; the simplified 预 is a later shorthand.

Open 预 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

料 combines 米 (rice) with 斗 (a dipper), showing rice being measured or gauged.

Open 料 →

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