出chū人rén意yì料liào

Literal: to go beyond what people expected
Figurative: Turning out in a way nobody saw coming, against what everyone took for granted — for better or for worse.

Where does 出人意料 come from?

It tells no story: it is a descriptive formula that explains itself through its own parts. 出 means "to go beyond," 人 "people," and 意料 "what was expected," so together they say that something has stepped outside what anyone anticipated. Nearly identical variants live alongside it, such as 出人意外 and 出人意表. Today it works both as a standalone comment opening a sentence (出人意料的是…) and as an ordinary predicate.

How is 出人意料 used? Two examples

出chū人rén意yì料liào的de是shì，最zuì后hòu拿ná第dì一yī的de是shì那nà个gè新xīn人rén。
The surprise was that the newcomer ended up taking first place.
这zhè次cì考kǎo试shì的de题tí目mù出chū人rén意yì料liào，很hěn多duō人rén都dōu没méi做zuò完wán。
The questions on this exam caught everyone off guard; a lot of people didn't finish.

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