Raising eyebrows

Reader question:

Please explain “raised many eyebrows” in this sentence: Unsurprisingly, his remarks raised many eyebrows.

My comments:

Without knowing specifically what “his remarks” were, we can safely infer that they were shocking or controversial – because many people reacted by raising their eyebrows.

Physically, our eyebrows raise when we hear something odd and unusual. It’s a natural reaction, something we do involuntarily.

Our raised eyebrows show, variously, shock, doubt or disapproval. We want to make sure if we have heard it right. We ask ourselves: Did he really say that?

Hence, when “his remarks” raised many eyebrows, we know many people were shocked by what he said.

Perhaps “his words” were vulgar, out of place or otherwise inappropriate, depending on the situation.

For an easy pick, I want to use US President Donald Trump as an example. Trump, you see, is known for saying shocking things.

For instance, many Canadians, if not all, must have literally raised their eyebrows when they heard Trump say that Canada should be the 51st state of the United States.

Trump is a recidivist or a repeat offender when it comes to saying such things.

Only recently, if you recall, the American President said that the US should retake the Panama Canal, by force, if necessary.

He also said, of course, that he would end the Russian-Ukrainian war in a day, 24 hours.

Oh, well, that’s just Trump being Trump.

Now, let’s read a few media examples to examine people’s eyebrow-raising reaction in detail:

1. Since Donald Trump won the recent US election, world leaders have sent congratulatory messages to the President-elect – including French President Emmanuel Macron.

But one word from Macron’s statement has certainly raised some eyebrows.

In a post on social media, the French leader said he is “ready to work together” with Trump as they did previously when the 78-year-old was last in office from 2017 to 2020.

“Congratulations, President @realDonaldTrump. Ready to work together as we did for four years. With your convictions and mine. With respect and ambition. For more peace and prosperity,” he wrote.

The choice to use the word “convictions” has garnered a lot of reaction online, due to the fact that Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in New York back in May.

Though, a member of Macron’s communications team clarified to The Huffington Post: “The word ‘convictions’ in the president’s tweet mean beliefs and cannot be associated with the meaning of convictions as condemnation/sanctions.”

Nevertheless, it didn’t take long for social media users to troll this unfortunate double entendre.

- French President Macron raises eyebrows with choice of words in congratulatory message to Trump, Indy100.com, November 8, 2024.

2. Will Smith just raised some eyebrows after sharing an intimate onstage moment with singer India Martínez.

After teaming up for their Valentine’s Day track “First Love,” the two performers joined forces for a live performance of the new song at Univision’s 37th Premio Lo Nuestro Awards on Thursday. Given the chatter surrounding the performance, it seems like fans got very distracted by the steamy vibes between the duo – especially the fans who are invested in Smith and wife, Jada Pinkett’s relationship.

The sensual choreography sees Smith, 56, and Martínez, 39, at one point singing straight into each other’s faces. As they come closer together, the Spanish singer puts her hand on the rapper’s face, and they lean in closer as if to kiss before she continues past him despite Smith’s still puckered lips.

They repeat the moment later in the song but the second time, Martínez pulls Smith in closer and gets their faces close enough to give the impression of a kiss.

Smith and Martínez both celebrated the performance on social media in the days that followed. Martínez shared a clip of the fake-out kiss, taken from backstage, captioned with lyrics from their song: “I want that first passion / I want them first hugs / I want them hard cries / I want that FIRST LOVE.”

She added, “Otra perspectiva, misma pasión!!” which translates to “another perspective, same passion!!” in English. Smith reshared Martínez’s post.

- Will Smith gets tongues wagging after fake kiss, steamy performance with Spanish singer India Martínez, EW.com, February 26, 2025.

3. Princess Kate and Prince William’s decision “raised eyebrows” within the Royal Family, an insider has claimed.

The Prince and Princess of Wales were notably absent from the traditional Easter Sunday church service at St George’s Chapel in Windsor.

The annual royal gathering proceeded without Prince William, Princess Kate and their three children.

Their absence from this key event in the royal calendar reportedly “raised eyebrows” within the family.

According to a source who spoke to The Mirror, the couple chose to spend time at Anmer Hall in Norfolk instead.

“They are choosing to spend time together as a family before the children go back to school,” the source revealed.

Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, nine, and Prince Louis, six, were all with their parents during this family time.

“This move by the Waleses raised eyebrows at the Palace,” a royal insider claimed to Us Weekly.

“This is a big deal,” the source added. “It’s royal tradition for the family to attend this together.”

The insider further explained: “Everyone understood the family not attending last year when Kate was sick, but there’s been a lot of raised eyebrows at the Palace about William’s decision to skip again this year.”

- Princess Kate and Prince William decision ‘raised eyebrows’ within Royal Family, GBNews.com, April 21, 2025.

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。

About the author:

Zhang Xin is Trainer at chinadaily.com.cn. He 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.

（作者：张欣）