A decade ago, at my B-school, the enthusiastic faculty announced that the following Tuesday there would be a "surprise assignment" and he stopped short announcing the surprise topic. Now that it has been announced, it was no longer a "surprise".
During promotions at a retail store, the retailer might surprise the customer by not having the promoted stocks. In bumper to bumper traffic, a motorist might ram into your car from the back and surprise, surprise, blame it on you.
Much before the advent of mobile phones, surprise visits to friends and relatives' houses was greeted with lots of enthusiasm and elation. These days its the opposite.
Has the meaning of "suprise" evolved over the years, or is it that we have been slow in adapting to the "surprising" turn of events? Looks like it is more of the latter.
No comments:
Post a Comment