[Ads-l] surprised!

[Jonathan Lighter]

OED has "surprise, surprise" only from 1953 (4c: "an exclamation indicating
surprise. Sometimes parenthetically. Freq. in irony or sarcasm."  (I'd be
tempted to say "usu. in irony or sarcasm." )

This lady and her director seem to think that the correct form is
"Surprised!"

https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video;_ylt=A0LEV1CG3CRXVMIAVz1XNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTByMjB0aG5zBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--?p=%22liberty+Mutual%22+Youtube+Surprise&fr=mcafee#id=1&vid=b96843fb7439436bb18cb7a3f7aa5d0c&action=view

(Click on the ad in the upper left.  On TV there's no question that she
says "Surprised!")

1948 _Seattle Sunday Times_ (Dec. 12) 27: Surprise, Surprise! Ted Williams
won bat honors.

(It was obviously not a surprise.)

SWAG: The phrase comes directly from what people shout at  "surprise
parties" (OED: 1858, US).

<https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video;_ylt=A0LEV1CG3CRXVMIAVz1XNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTByMjB0aG5zBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--?p=%22liberty+Mutual%22+Youtube+Surprise&fr=mcafee#id=1&vid=b96843fb7439436bb18cb7a3f7aa5d0c&action=view>
JL
-- 
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org