catch someone off guard
不意を突く
解説 Definition
相手が油断しているところを不意に驚かせること。予想外の出来事で面食らわせる。
Catch someone off guard means to surprise someone when they are not ready. It is used when a question, event, or action happens unexpectedly. This expression often suggests the person had no time to prepare.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
guard は「ガードする」の guard なので、off guard でまず「ガードが外れた、警戒していない状態」を思い出す。そこへ catch someone が来ると、「相手をその無防備な瞬間にとらえる」から「不意を突く」。形は catch + 人 + off guard の固定パターンで覚えると使いやすい。surprise よりも「準備不足のところを突かれて面食らう」感じが強い。The question caught me off guard. や His resignation caught everyone off guard. のように、質問・知らせ・急な変化でよく出る。
Start with “guard,” like protection or defense. If someone is “off guard,” their defense is down, so they are not ready. Then “catch someone off guard” becomes easy to remember: you catch them in that unready moment.
例文
The surprise announcement caught everyone off guard.
そのサプライズ発表は全員の不意を突いた。
The sudden price increase caught consumers off guard.
突然の値上げは消費者の不意を突いた。
Her blunt question caught him off guard, and he didn't know what to say.
彼女の率直な質問に不意を突かれ、彼は何と言えばいいかわからなかった。
catch someone off guard の類義語・関連語
類義語
対義語
catch someone off guard の語源・成り立ち Etymology
catchは古フランス語経由で俗ラテン語captiare、guardは古フランス語gardeでゲルマン語系ward-にさかのぼります。captureやguardianと同系で、「守りの外で捕まえる」感覚から、不意を突く意味がよく見えます。
Catch came into English through Old French from late Latin captiare, and guard came through Old French garde from a Germanic root also seen in ward. These roots are also behind words like capture and guardian. The phrase originally suggests seizing someone when they are not protected, and from that it came to mean surprising someone when they are unprepared.
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