Talk:lo and behold

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word Talk:lo and behold. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word Talk:lo and behold, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say Talk:lo and behold in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word Talk:lo and behold you have here. The definition of the word Talk:lo and behold will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofTalk:lo and behold, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

Wikipedia:lo and behold authors and history

From Wikipedia:Talk:lo and behold

The following information has failed Wiktionary's verification process.

Failure to be verified means that insufficient eligible citations of this usage have been found, and the entry therefore does not meet Wiktionary inclusion criteria at the present time. We have archived here the disputed information, the verification discussion, and any documentation gathered so far, pending further evidence.
Do not re-add this information to the article without also submitting proof that it meets Wiktionary's criteria for inclusion.

lo and behold

Latest comment: 15 years ago7 comments4 people in discussion

Rfv-sense. I thought that this expression meant something more akin to "Well, what do you know?!", a mocking surprise. Certainly not "suddenly". __meco 09:23, 6 January 2009 (UTC)Reply

You are right. lo is an old word meaning look, and this phrase usually indicates that some (bad but predictable) event or behaviour has been witnessed. I am finding it difficult to come up with a suitable definition, though. Chambers has this: "(often facetious) used to signal a startling revelation". Equinox 10:02, 6 January 2009 (UTC)Reply
FWIW: OALD: "(humorous) used for calling attention to a surprising or an annoying thing" --Duncan 11:57, 6 January 2009 (UTC)Reply
Perhaps something alluding to the sense of the German (deprecated template usage) schadenfroh. __meco 10:17, 6 January 2009 (UTC)Reply
Seems the English has absorbed this as (deprecated template usage) schadenfreude. Even (deprecated template usage) gloating would be relevant. __meco 10:23, 6 January 2009 (UTC)Reply
It's not necessarily used gloatingly or with schadenfreude. Example: "He promised me he'd never leave me, and the next day lo and behold he's with another girl!" This speaker could be justifiably upset. Equinox 23:20, 11 February 2009 (UTC)Reply

RFV failed, sense replaced with {{defn|English}}. —RuakhTALK 01:09, 12 May 2009 (UTC)Reply

Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia