#55- 16 Words for Surprise and Shock

Welcome to episode #55 of TheReal Life English with Gabby- 16 Words for Surprise, Shock and Awe. In this episode, you’ll learn 16 useful expressions to talk about surprise, shock, and amazement in everyday English. You'll learn idioms, slang, and phrasal verbs like flip out, jaw-dropping, mind-blowing, taken aback, like a deer caught in headlights and more! All with real-life examples and simple explanations. You’ll also learn the difference between mind-blowing and to blow someone's mind, and how to use phrases like be blown away. By the end, you’ll have new vocabulary you can start using right away to sound more natural and confident in conversations. Don’t forget to download the study guide and to practice what you learned!

 The Study Guide includes:

• All 16 words and definitions
• All new words in real life contexts
• Example sentences 
• Practice activities
• The transcript

Get your Study Guide Right >> HERE <<

Get more English Lessons here:
Visit me on Instagram
Visit me on TikTok
Visit me on YouTube

Transcript

[00:00:00] On today's episode of The Real Life English with Gabby podcast, I'll be teaching you 16 phrasal verbs, slang words, and idioms about surprises and shock. You'll be learning vocabulary like drop a bombshell, shell out, out of the blue, to catch someone off guard, flip out, and more. Let's get to it.

Hey there. Welcome to The Real Life English with Gabby podcast. I'm your host, Gabby—your fun and friendly English teacher from the one and only New York City. My goal is to teach you phrasal verbs, idioms, and slang that will help you speak English confidently and understand real American conversations.

Are you ready to improve your English skills? Let's jump right in.

Hey, hey, hey. Greetings from New York City. Things are going pretty well here in New York [00:01:00] City. You know, the weather's great. There continues to be chaos in the United States, but here in New York, we're trying to survive being ourselves—one of the coolest cities in the world—and just trying to live life, as I'm sure you are as well.

Have you ever received news that shocked you? I'm sure you have. Maybe it was in your own personal life, or maybe it was with a friend or a family member. It could have been at your job or school. And I'm sure we've all heard shocking things with our governments and in our countries.

I know I definitely have. In fact, this year alone, I feel like I'm shocked every single day—although maybe some things shouldn't shock [00:02:00] me anymore. Anyways, I decided to do this topic because of how common, how normal, it is to be shocked and to get surprising news in our everyday lives, especially during times like this where we just always hear surprising news.

Hopefully, we receive more good surprises than bad. In life, we're always going to be surprising people with information or receiving surprises. For example, this year, me getting pregnant and expecting a baby—and expecting a girl—was very surprising to my husband and me, my kids, my family, and our friends. And so that's a nice surprise for the year. So we always have to be ready to hear about surprises and share surprises with those closest to us.

Do you like surprises? [00:03:00] I've found that a lot of people either love surprises or hate surprises. There's usually no in-between. Personally, I love surprises, but it's very difficult to surprise me. I'm very observant—meaning I notice a lot of things and I ask a lot of questions—so it's very difficult for people to do things like surprise me with parties, etc.

So let me tell you about the vocabulary that you are going to learn in today's episode. We have:

to drop a bombshell, throw someone for a loop, to be shook, to come out of the blue / be out of the blue, freak out, come out of nowhere, no way, catch off guard, what the heck, what the hell, flip out, jaw-dropping, mind-blowing, to be taken aback, to be like a deer caught in headlights, to blow someone's mind, to be blown away

Before we get into the episode, I just want to say thank you for all of the positive feedback that many of you send in every week. It's always encouraging, and I love to hear from you all and meet you via email and know who's a part of the audience.

I want to give a special shoutout to Azam. Azam is from Iran, but currently [00:05:00] living in Toronto, Canada. There are so many of you in the community who live in Canada. It's really awesome. Anyways, Azam gave some positive feedback about the show, and I just wanted to shout you out and say thank you.

If you want a shoutout on the show, the way to do it is to either give a five-star review on Apple Podcasts—or give a five-star review, take a picture, send me a message, send me an email, or just email me at gabby@englishwithgabby.com. I love to communicate with community members via email.

Also, just giving a reminder that there is a free and very valuable study guide waiting for you that will truly help you remember everything you hear in these episodes. The study guide has definitions and examples, along with the story that I'm about to read, the full transcript, and practice activities.

To get the study guide, just click the link in the episode description, and then you'll sign up and get access to all of the study guides. From every episode, you'll have the folder, and then you can just check the folder every week, and the new study guide will be there. Alright, so let's get to the [00:06:00] story.

I am gonna read you a story that has all of the vocabulary in real-life context. Listen and see if you can figure out these meanings based on the context. Then afterwards, I'll teach you all of the definitions and give you more examples.

Here we go.

Amina and Annamarie were best friends. They had met in university studying marine biology. Amina got a job at the local aquarium, but Annamarie hadn't been able to find anything after searching for the past three months. One day, Annamarie called Amina and asked to meet for coffee.

Once they were together, Annamarie dropped a bombshell.

"I have some big news. I got my dream job as a marine biologist—but it's in Australia, and it means that I [00:07:00] have to move in three months."

That really threw Amina for a loop. She was so shocked. She didn't expect that news at all. But even though she was shook, she was also happy for her friend because she had been looking for a job for six months.

"I know this seems out of the blue," said Annamarie, "but I applied for this job like three months ago and I figured I wouldn't get it. I heard back last week, did the interview, and got hired. I'm freaking out a little bit because Australia is so far away, but I can't turn this job down. It's perfect for me."

Amina decided that she wanted to throw a big party for Annamarie, so she planned a party two weeks before Annamarie was set to move to Australia. The day of the party, Annamarie was relaxing [00:08:00] at home when Amina came out of nowhere and knocked on her door.

"No way! What are you doing here?" Annamarie asked, surprised.

Amina smiled and said, "Come with me. I have a surprise for you."

Annamarie was caught off guard. She had no idea what was going on. She followed Amina down the street in front of a really big house. Amina opened the door.

"What the heck? Where are we?" Annamarie asked.

Amina just smiled and pulled her inside. Suddenly, all of Annamarie's friends jumped out and yelled, "Surprise!"

Annamarie flipped out. She screamed and laughed all at the same time.

She didn't expect a going-away party at all. The decorations were jaw-dropping and all had an Australia theme. There were lights, balloons, and even a giant cake [00:09:00] with her name on it in the shape of Australia. The music and food were amazing as well.

"This is mind-blowing! I can't believe you did all this for me," Annamarie said.

She was taken aback when she saw her brother and parents there too. They had driven in from another city just for the party. She almost felt like a deer in headlights because she didn't know what to say.

"Amina, you really blew my mind with this farewell bash," Annamarie said.

"Well," responded Amina, "I'm blown away by the fact that you won't be here anymore. But you know what? I'm extremely happy for you because you found your dream job."

They hugged, laughed, and danced the night away. It was a party Annamarie and her friends would never forget.

The end.

Okay. So let's [00:10:00] talk about these definitions.
 First, we have to drop a bombshell. In the story, it says that Annamarie dropped a bombshell. To drop a bombshell is to announce surprising or shocking news. It's literally like a bomb that surprises everyone who hears it. For example: She dropped a bombshell when she said she was quitting her job.

I know that bombs are negative, but dropping a bombshell could be positive news as well—like people saying they're having a baby, they're getting married, they're moving. But we just say that it's a bombshell because it's like an explosion of information. It's shocking. It's gonna change a lot of things in a family, in a friendship, at a job, etc.

Next up, we have to throw someone for a loop. When Amina heard the news, she was [00:11:00] thrown for a loop, meaning that she was completely surprised. She was super confused. We use throw someone for a loop when someone is surprised or confused. So maybe your brother or sister tells you something and you're so surprised and also confused because it's not something you were expecting.
For example: The news of his sudden move threw me for a loop.

Next up, we have to be shook.
 This is very common slang. It's been around for, I'd say, about 20 years now. So it's very commonly used by multiple types of generations, really—40 and under, I would say.
 Because shook has another meaning—shook is the past tense of shake, right? So: I shook the water [00:12:00] bottle.

But in the slang context, to be shook means to feel shocked, upset. You are deeply affected by something that you just heard.
So in the story, Amina was shook. She was happy, but she was also very sad, very surprised because her best friend was moving across the world.

Next up, we have the very popular idiom out of the blue.
 This is when something happens suddenly or unexpectedly. You did not see this coming. In the story, Annamarie says, “You know, it seems like this came out of the blue, but I applied for this months ago.” It seems like it's unexpected—but it wasn’t as unexpected.
 For example: His apology came out of the blue after weeks of silence.

Next up, we have the phrasal [00:13:00] verb freak out.
 This means to suddenly become very excited, very scared, or very upset.

Now I wanna talk about freak out for a moment. Freaking out is a sudden display of emotion. It could be someone got you free tickets to a concert and you're freaking out: “Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Thank you! I'm so excited!”
Or it could be parents who cannot find their children in a store. They're freaking out: “Oh my gosh, where is my child?!”

For example, my little 3-year-old—soon to be 4-year-old—his name is Miles. He is my little wild child. He can get out of restraints. We turn our head for a second—he's gone. He climbs things. He's a sweetheart, but he likes to have his freedom.

So we were at a very famous zoo here in New York, the Bronx Zoo. We love it. And we were in this [00:14:00] gorilla exhibition. It was really crowded. He disappeared for like five minutes, and we were freaking out because it was very crowded. We didn't know where he was.

So in that context, I was scared. I was, you know, upset. And this is often how we use freak out. It could be like panicking, right?
By the way, we found him—it was fine. And now when we go to crowded places, we usually put Apple AirTags on our boys.

It is kind of funny though, because I used to do that to my mom all the time—and I'm sure you guys did too when you were younger. When we had big department stores, I would hide in the clothing racks, and my mom would totally freak out trying to find me, and I would think it was hilarious.

So now, you know, when I tell my mom, “Oh yeah, Miles ran off,” she just laughs because she said, “Hah, it’s payback for what you did to me.”

Anyway, back to freak out. In the story, Annamarie [00:15:00] says that she freaked out a little bit because the thought of moving across the world to a new country, far from family—it’s something that's very scary. So she freaked out a little bit.
For example: She freaked out when she saw the spider on her bed.

Next up, we have to come out of nowhere.
 This is an idiom, and it means to appear or happen very unexpectedly.
 For example: The storm came out of nowhere and ruined our picnic.

I will say, out of the blue and come out of nowhere seem to be the same. But out of the blue is more with information, whereas come out of nowhere could be information, but it's also someone's physical appearing. Like: “Oh, my sister appeared outta nowhere—she surprised me,” [00:16:00] or “A storm appeared out of nowhere.”

So: The storm came out of nowhere and ruined our picnic.
 It was something physical that appeared. Out of the blue is more information—not as physical.

Next up, we have the popular expression no way.
 And I'm sure you've heard this because it is so popular. It's used by everyone, everywhere, every age. It's in TV shows, movies, newspapers, articles—you'll hear this very often.

No way is an expression, and it just expresses surprise or disbelief.
So if someone came to me and said, “Hey, I got tickets to an Adele concert for you,” I’d say, “No way! Oh my goodness, I cannot believe this! I am so surprised.”
For [00:17:00] example: No way—you got tickets to the concert?!

Next up, we have the expression to catch someone off guard.
 This is to surprise someone when they're not ready.
 For example: The teacher's question caught me off guard and I didn't know how to answer.

In the story, we see that Annamarie was caught off guard when Amina surprised her with the party.

Next up, we have the expression what the heck or what the hell.
 This is another very common expression in English, and I'm sure you've heard it in American media. This is an expression used when you're surprised, confused, annoyed.

For example: What the heck is that noise coming from the kitchen?
 What the heck are you doing?!
 [00:18:00] Hey! What the hell?!

There are so many different ways to use it. And pretty much, we typically use it when we're confused or when we're annoyed—when we're upset.
 But we can also say like, “What the heck? What's happening here?” in a good way. But most of the time, it’s kind of negative.

What the hell is stronger than what the heck, by the way.

Next up, we have flip out.
 Flip out is a phrasal verb, and flip out is very similar to freak out, except that sometimes flip out is a little bit more serious, because it refers to losing control.

So you have strong emotions, usually in anger or excitement, but you lose physical control. So he flipped out when he saw that someone had hit his car, for example. My dad flipped out when he [00:19:00] saw the broken window. Strong emotions. Typically, you lose control of your feelings and it's very physical, usually.

Next up, we have jaw dropping. So if you know the part of your face which is the jaw, it's like the two bones on the bottom of your face, okay, on either side, and it connects to your chin. When you drop your jaw, it's like you open your mouth and you're very surprised. This is where jaw dropping comes from. This is an expression that means extremely surprising or impressive, like it made your jaw drop. So, for example, when I traveled to Italy and I got out of the train, the metro, and I was standing in front of the Colosseo, my jaw [00:20:00] dropped. I was in awe. I was amazed. Same thing happened when I was in India and I saw the Taj Mahal for the first time.

It was jaw dropping. It made my mouth open, my eyes widen. It was amazing. And so, jaw dropping means something is surprising, makes your jaw drop, your mouth open, or extremely impressive. Like you go to a theme park, you go to Disney World for the first time. You're like, oh my gosh, this is amazing. So that's what jaw dropping means. For example, the view from the top of the mountain was jaw dropping.

Next up, we have a similar expression, which is mind blowing. Mind blowing is incredibly surprising or amazing. It's hard to believe. For example, the special effects in that movie were mind blowing. Mind blowing and jaw dropping are [00:21:00] similar. Jaw dropping we use more for news and visuals, but mind blowing we typically use a lot for things that we see also, like scientific discoveries. Like maybe I see a video of space and the planets, and I'm like, wow, it blew my mind. It's really hard to believe I saw this incredible thing.

Next step, we have taken aback. This means surprised or shocked, often in a way that makes you pause. So, if my friend comes to me, she's married, let's say, and she tells me, "Gabby, I'm divorcing Daniel." I, who's her husband, am taken aback. It makes me pause. It makes me stop what I'm doing because I'm so surprised or shocked. And I'm like, "What? You guys are getting divorced?" You know, I'm very, [00:22:00] very surprised. So you're taken aback, like maybe you put your hand on your chest, or there's a physical reaction to your surprise. You can't believe it.

Next up, we have one of my favorite expressions. I love explaining this expression. It's so strange to students, but I love it. So it's like a deer caught in headlights. So let's break this down a little bit. First off, what's a deer? A deer is a very famous animal here in the USA, especially in New York. It's Bambi. Do you know Bambi? The Disney movie about the little deer. So if you don't know Bambi, go ahead and Google it really quickly, and then you're gonna be like, oh, Bambi. That's a deer. All right, so what are headlights? Headlights are the front lights of a car. Those two lights, sometimes more, on either side, right [00:23:00] side, left side. Now here in New York, for example, we'll be driving on a road in the mountains and there will be a deer crossing the road. Now, in the daytime, it's not as big of a problem. It still is — deer cause a lot of accidents here. However, at night, there's a deer crossing the road. The minute the deer sees the headlights, what does the deer do? The deer freezes. It doesn't know what to do because the lights hit it. And it could make it to the other side, but it just stops because it's in such shock.

And this is what the idiom means. It means to be frozen in surprise or fear. You don't know how to react. Sometimes English teachers and teachers in [00:24:00] general use this to describe students who get scared when we call on them. For example, I'll say, "Hey, what's the answer to number five? Okay, Minjun, tell me the answer."

And they freeze because maybe they weren't paying attention, maybe they were on their cell phone, or maybe they just had no idea what the answer is, and they were scared. So we say, "Oh yeah, she's nice, but she's like a deer caught in headlights. Every time someone calls on her or talks to her, she just freezes."

And so this is a really cool idiom. For example, when they announced her name on stage, she stood there like a deer caught in headlights.

In the story, you see that she feels like a deer caught in headlights. When she notices that her brother and her parents came to her party from another city, she froze.

She didn't know how to respond. Normally it's out of fear, but sometimes it's also out [00:25:00] of surprise.

Next, we have to blow someone's mind. This is to amaze someone or impress someone greatly. Now, let's go back to mind blowing. Okay. Mind blowing is the adjective: "The special effects were mind blowing." But then we have the verb form.

To blow someone's mind. Hmm. Now let's talk about the other form of mind blowing, which is to blow someone's mind. This is to amaze someone or impress them in a big way. For example, the magician's trick blew my mind. I couldn't figure out how he did it. So again, mind blowing is the adjective. We use it to describe something that we saw or experienced.

To [00:26:00] blow someone's mind is the verb form of this. And lastly, we have blow again, but this time it's in the form of a phrasal verb: to blow someone away or to be blown away. To be blown away means to be very impressed or amazed. You're surprised at how amazing it is. I was blown away by how beautiful the concert was.

You were not expecting this, and then it happened and you're like, "Oh, wow, I can't believe it."

Well, guess what? You just learned 16 new phrasal verbs, idioms, and slang words about expressing surprises and shocks. Now I'm gonna give you some homework so that you can start using this vocabulary right away. Firstly, [00:27:00] if you have not yet downloaded the study guide, go ahead and do that right now.

Secondly, I want you to choose five to ten of your favorite words from the episode and write them down somewhere or highlight them in your study guide. I want you to use these this week. You can write them in a journal. You can write a text message or message to a friend who's also learning English. You can also record yourself in an audio file using these words in sentences so that you can practice using them.

Or you can even use some of these in writing and write a short paper. However you decide to use these, just make sure you use them because you don't wanna just keep this knowledge in your brain. You wanna actually use it and expose yourself to it [00:28:00] multiple times so that you can start using it naturally and confidently like a native speaker.

So go ahead and do your homework.

Well, that's a wrap for today's episode of The Real Life English with Gabby podcast. Be sure to download today's study guide so that you can learn how to use this vocabulary confidently. If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe for more weekly adventures in English learning. Also, I'd love to hear from you, so please leave me a review.

Thanks so much for tuning in.