who'da thought
- idiom
- Informal
:
¿quién lo hubiera pensado?
- Who'da thought we'd actually finish the project on time?
Examples
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He became famous overnight—who'da thought it was possible?
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After all the hard work, who'da thought they'd succeed?
-
Who'da thought she'd move to another country after all these years?
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I can't believe who'da thought she'd become a doctor!
-
Who'da thought we'd actually finish the project on time?
-
Who'da thought she'd move to another country after all these years?
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Who'da thought it was possible for him to become famous overnight?
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
3
4.4
Says that something is not expected but is true
An informal phrase people say to show surprise or disbelief
A short phrase people say to show surprise or confusion
A short phrase people say to show surprise at something amazing
Surface Forms
Morphology
who'da + thought
This is a colloquial contraction of 'who would have thought' and the core meaning ('it is surprising') is derivable from the constituents if a learner parses it as 'who + would have + thought'. However, the heavy contraction ('who'da') and informal pronunciation/ellipsis may confuse a B1 learner who has not seen the phrase in context, so the relation is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Who'da thought is a short spoken form of who would have thought, which people say when something is surprising. Imagine someone hearing unexpected news and quietly saying 'who would have guessed', so who'da thought now means 'surprise' at something unexpected.