Surprising or Not Surprising

Surprising or Not Surprising Surprising or Not Surprising Surprising or Not Surprising By Maeve Maddox Ive become aware of the inexplicable use of the phrase not unsurprising in contexts in which a simple unsurprising is called for. For example: Unpresidential, But Not Unsurprising Its extremely unfortunate yet not unsurprising that such an attack occurred. Annoying but not unsurprising. In each of these examples, the sense is that something might have been expected and is therefore not surprising. Placing not in front of unsurprising garbles the meaning. Something is either surprising or not surprising. surprising: adj. Causing surprise or wonder by its unexpectedness The word unsurprising may be used instead of the phrase not surprising. The OED doesnt bother to define unsurprising as not causing surprise, but it gives this illustration of its use: Adaptations of Dickenss works..are meant to make you feel good. This is unsurprising, as..it could be argued that this is exactly how Dickens intends you to feel. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:100 Exquisite AdjectivesUsed To vs. Use ToUsing "zeitgeist" Coherently