All of a sudden

All of a sudden

Today’s expression is an easy one to learn: “all of a sudden.” I bet you’ve heard it before. It simply means, quickly, suddenly, without warning.

Some people would tell you—and I wouldn’t disagree with them—but some people would tell you that you shouldn’t say “all of a sudden;” you should just say the word “suddenly.”

For example, “I was walking down the street and all of a sudden it began to rain.” That means, it began to rain without warning, quickly. I was taken by surprise. You can absolutely say, “I was walking down the street and suddenly it began to rain.” And if you’re writing, I would definitely agree that “suddenly” is better.

But it’s weird—people like to say “all of a sudden.” It means the same thing as “suddenly,” and it’s not as concise, it’s not as short, but some people just like saying “all of a sudden” better. I kind of like it better, too. You’ve heard me use it before.

In recent years, streaming services have been spending lavishly on new movies and series. Critics proclaimed a “golden age of television.” Apple and Amazon fired a bazooka of cash at the industry and it seemed like this would go on forever. But all of a sudden, most streaming companies are cutting back on their spending . It’s taking people by surprise. Only a year ago, it seemed like spending was unlimited. And now today, every media CEO is talking about cutting costs, reducing spending, raising prices, all that stuff. So it seemed to come without warning and it came quickly. So all of a sudden, almost every streamer is focused on costs.

I’ll disclose a personal detail about myself. This is embarrassing. I’m not good with discussions of the human body. I remember science class years ago, in school they would teach us about the human body. Bone marrow, arteries, platelets, how your ears work, tendons—oh, make it stop! I would be there in class, feeling fine, listening to the teacher, taking notes, and all of a sudden I would just feel sick.

So the teacher would be there, talking about the lungs, and all of a sudden, with no warning, I would start to feel nauseous, my eyes would blink uncontrollably (this is true), and I would have to leave the room. All the teachers knew it. If I just got up and walked out of the classroom, it was because all of a sudden I started to feel sick.

I had a dentist appointment once years ago, and, I’m embarrassed to admit, I had a few cavities. The dentist wanted to make an impression on me, to explain to me how important it was to care for my teeth, so that I didn’t continue to get cavities in the future. And to illustrate this very important point, he took out a diagram about the roots of your teeth and started to explain to me—I don’t even know what. All of a sudden, I was on the floor. I had fainted.

You can use “all of a sudden” to describe an unexplained change in a person’s behavior or attitude. All of a sudden, JR is drinking Matcha tea all the time. I had no idea! Then I see him with his Matcha when we Zoom together, and I had no clue he even liked it. But he found this Matcha tea that he likes and now he’s drinking it a lot. It was a fairly quick and unexpected change in his behavior. So we say, all of a sudden, JR is drinking Matcha tea in the afternoons.

JR’s song of the week

Speaking of JR, it’s time for JR’s English song of the week. Today it’s by Jamie Hannah and the song is called “Flowers.” It’s based on a quote, “May the flowers remind us why the rain is necessary.” The song has been described as haunting, but uplifting. Jamie Hannah wrote it during the pandemic and he said it’s about the “bravery and strength” required to fall in love. “Flowers” by Jamie Hannah is the song of the week, thank you very much JR.

See you next time!

And that’s all for today’s Plain English. I want to acknowledge all the listeners who are currently in Day 4 of the Plain English ChatGPT Challenge. Congratulations to all of you—very nice job so far. We might have even more news to share on the GPT front in the next week or two, you never know.

But for now, we’ll wrap up Plain English lesson number 579 for Thursday, June 8, 2023. We’ll see you back here on Monday.