Reader's question:  The two men appeared out of nowhere, a few yards apart in the narrow, moonlit lane.

Could you explain “out of nowhere”?

My comments:

“Out of nowhere” means all of a sudden, to everyone’s surprise.

In other words unexpectedly. No-one had seen the two men before. No-one knows where they came from. They were not anywhere near the scene. It’s as though they emerged from thin air.

Another similar expression is “out of the blue”. For example, you’re queuing up for tickets and out of the blue the man next in line says to you: “Your name’s John, isn’t it?”

Whether or not your name’s John doesn’t matter, you get the picture, or feeling – total surprise.

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本文仅代表作者本人观点，与本网立场无关。欢迎大家讨论学术问题，尊重他人，禁止人身攻击和发布一切违反国家现行法律法规的内容。

Zhang Xin has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.