a bolt out of the blue 晴天霹雳

Bolt 是闪电，blue 在这儿是指蓝色的天空。 Like a bolt out of the blue 的意思就是晴天霹雳，也就是出乎意外、没料想到。有时，你花几个小时也解不开一道数学题。可是，当你不再去想它的时候，你脑子里突然出现了答案。人们还经常用 like a bolt out of the blue 来形容车祸。来看下面这个例子：

A driver may testify that he was going the normal speed limit when a truck appeared in front of him out of the blue and he did not have time to stop. 一个开车的人可能会在作证时说，正当他以正常的速度行驶的时候，一辆卡车突然出现在他面前，他来不及刹车。

我们再看看下面这个学生讲的话:

The announcement that the president of our university was quitting to go to another school hit us like a bolt out of the blue. He's always said he liked it here so much he would stay until he retired. 我们大学校长宣布他决定辞职到另外一个学校去工作。我们都感到很突然，因为他老是说他很喜欢这个学校，要一直在这儿工作到退休。