Surprise and disbelief

1. [Match]

Do you recognise any of these expressions of surprise or disbelief?

(“Surprised? I’ll say!” = Yes, definitely, certainly, absolutely. This could also mean anyone was surprised – I certainly am! or he / she / is / was / we / you / they are or were…..”.
1 That’s absolutely amazing!
2 I’ll take your word for it.
This means you would not believe it yourself, but you are keeping open the possibility that the person who has told you something believes something for a good reason, so you’re accepting their version of events.
3 You could have knocked me down with a feather!
Informal = I was extremely surprised.
4 You’ll never believe who I met this morning!
It was very unexpected to come across X this morning – can you guess who it was?
5 You must be joking!
6 He can’t be serious.
I trust he does not expect me to accept what he is proposing / saying.
7 I don’t think so.
In informal conversation this often means “I do not believe this / you.” Young people use it a lot.
8 No wonder!
I am not surprised. After what has happened beforehand this was to be expected. Eg “He’s feeling awful this morning…” “No wonder – he didn’t come in until 3 this morning….”
9 I’ll believe it when I see it.
I will take a lot more persuading and proof before I believe something is true or the case.
10 What planet is he on?
This is very impractical / unreasonable / unusual / unacceptable. He is behaving or speaking in a way that is so alien to what we expect (for instance at work) that his reality is nothing like ours. or he is acting strangely.
11 You could have fooled me.
What I saw with my own eyes or ears gave me no reason to believe what I’ve just been told – in fact it looked to me as if the very opposite was the case.
Eg “He loves her you know.” “You could have fooled me…” – i.e. from what I saw / or the way I saw him treat her the opposite looked true.
12 Does she really expect me to believe that?
That is incredible.
)

Answers for Quiz [1].

• 1. amazing! (correct)
• 2. with a feather! (correct)
• 3. word for it! (correct)
• 4. who I met this morning! (correct)
• 5. joking! (correct)
• 6. be serious! (correct)
• 7. think so. (correct)
• 8. wonder! (correct)
• 9. when I see it. (correct)
• 10. is he on? (correct)
• 11. fooled me! (correct)
• 12. to believe that? (correct)