I'll be blowed
- idiom
- Archaic
:
¡me sorprende!
- Well, I'll be blowed! I never expected that.
Examples
-
Wow! I'll be blowed!
-
When he walked through the door, I'll be blowed if everyone wasn't completely stunned.
-
I'll be blowed, you've finished the work already!
-
I'll be blowed; I didn't see that coming!
-
I'll be blowed, I never thought you would win the competition!
-
I'll be blowed; who would have guessed she was the one behind the project?
-
I've seen a lot, but I'll be blowed if that wasn't the most surprising twist!
Synonyms
90
8.9
A short cry to show surprise, confusion, disbelief, or casual acceptance
8
2.6
Words people say when they are surprised to see something
1
9.9
Feeling very surprised by something unexpected
A way to say you are surprised or do not believe something
You say this when you are very surprised and do not believe something
To show strong surprise that you do not believe something
An informal rude phrase said to show surprise or not believe something
A short phrase people say to show surprise or confusion
To show you are surprised something happened
Antonyms
515
1.8
Shows that something is almost certainly true, often before saying something different
How Surprised
- NSFW
31
9.9
- Archaic
1
9.9
- Archaic
- Archaic
9
7.7
Surface Forms
Morphology
I'll + be + blowed
This is a fixed, dialectal exclamation whose sense of surprise/disbelief is idiomatic and not recoverable from the literal parts. Knowing 'I will be' and the literal sense of 'blow' would more likely suggest a physical action (being blown) or confuse learners because 'blowed' is nonstandard; the historical euphemistic/idiomatic use (akin to 'I'll be damned') makes the meaning unpredictable for a B1 learner.
Etymology
I'll be blowed paints the image of being blown away by a strong wind. People used this picture to show strong 'surprise' or 'disbelief'.