Definitions
Wiktionary
- adj. figuratively surprised, shocked
- adj. nautical said of a ship, when the wind, suddenly changing, forces the sails aft against the mast
- v. Past participle of take aback
Examples
““Yes, I was,” said Mr. Rigget, considerably taken aback by this mercurial change in the magnificent-looking old gentleman in front of him.”
“When the party reached Harrisburg Lincoln asked his son Robert where the message was, and was taken aback by his son's confession that in the excitement caused by the enthusiastic reception he believed he had let a waiter have the gripsack.”
“Muhammed Iqbal was gay at returning to his own place, and had me airing my halting Pushtu on those we spoke to; they seemed taken aback to find an English officer who had their own tongue, however crudely, and were friendly enough.”
“They rounded a corner, and Rand was taken aback by the sight of a score of Seanchan soldiers standing guard in front of a big house on one side of the street and by the sight of two women in lightning-marked dresses talking on the doorsteps of another across from it.”
“I was a little taken aback at her cold-bloodedness: Was this the same girl who had wept over the death of a hamster?”
“The D.D.I. seemed taken aback by the elaboration of vowel and consonant.”
“Chabot was so taken aback that for a moment he sat still, without answering it, at last muttered, staring at Maigret:”
“Lu Manli, who waited years to get a simple wristwatch, is taken aback by the very idea that she was deprived.”
“It took a while to see that perhaps he was a bit taken aback by this young woman who had suddenly emerged from gangly, precocious, adolescent Mary Russell.”
“The colonel seemed taken aback by my brusque manners, so after slapping my empty plate down onto a nearby tray, I made an effort to smile ingratiatingly at him before urging him to lead me to the stables.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘taken aback’.
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the one-two punch
short (mostly two-word) collocations, pat phrases, idioms &c. that I like
merry chase, glancing blow, beast mode, feedback loop, false flag, dear god, nothing human, deflector shield, hatchet job, not cricket, bang on, a tinker's damn and 248 more...
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phrases
ironic detachment, get one's leg over, run wild, mad as a box of f..., keep your chin up, baker's dozen, fire a shot in anger, have a field day, go over with a fi..., as the crow flies, leap of faith, learn one's lesson and 224 more...
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GCI
spinster, maiden, happy-go-lucky, homonym, ill-at-ease, saw red, out of sorts, hot under the collar, taken aback, pen-names, alias, shoelaces and 378 more...
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Mobile Microsite
Words for marketing mobile emails to email marketers.
incandescence, bolt, dart, pealing, akimbo, critical, get focused, zoom in, concentrate, zonk out, freak out, freebee and 99 more...
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Three Sheets to the Wind
Common words or phrases of nautical origin that have taken on different or metaphorical meanings. Chained_bear and I tossed a coin over who would make the list. I won (or lost, depending on how you...
scuttlebutt, taken aback, brass monkey, boot camp, clean bill of health, three sheets to t..., the devil to pay, between the devil..., by and large, the whole nine yards, mind your ps and qs, slush fund and 116 more...
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Amusing words
interesting words
bonce, furcate, tapioca, tillage, desalinate, garish, litmus, roadhog, azoic, haberdasher, imbroglio, polliwog and 802 more...
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MEC3 Lesson 133
approval, seal, embarrassing, feature, stunt, backfire, misfortune, classic, set the scene, broadcast, stage manager, proper and 55 more...
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idioms
don't shoot the m..., blood from a turnip, a watched pot nev..., underfoot, to each his own, cut to the chase, cut the mustard, grand purpose, pass the buck, throw under the bus, scapegoat, strike a chord and 27 more...
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dazed and confused
stymied, flabbergasted, rattled, ruffled, bewildered, mazed, addled, befuddled, muddled, baffled, bemused, discombobulated and 20 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for taken aback.
reesetee Oh! Well, you see....
*getting comfortable, pushing spectacles farther down on nose*
Oh, hell; I'll let World Wide Words explain it. :-) Nov 30, 2007
chained_bear Wait! Scuttlebutt doesn't list any kind of nautical meaning. Post, reesetee! Post! Nov 30, 2007
reesetee Weird. I was just a minute ago reading that scuttlebutt was originally a nautical term, and I started thinking, "Hmm. A Wordie list...." Nov 30, 2007
chained_bear I was fascinated to learn that this was originally a nautical term. Here's the OED's explanation:
3. Naut. Said of the sails of a ship, when laid back against the mast, with the wind bearing against their front surfaces. Also, of the ship, when her sails are so laid.
1697 JUMPER in Lond. Gaz. mmmcccxv. 1, I braced my main topsails aback. 1762 FALCONER Shipwreck ii. 427 Away there! lower the mizen yard on deck, He calls, and brace the foremost yards aback! 1790 R. BEATSON Nav. and Mil. Mem. II. 58 The Revenge was necessitated to throw her sails all aback. 1847 ROSS Voyage to South Pole II. 217 We instantly hove all aback to diminish the violence of the shock.
b. Hence the nautical phrase to be taken aback, ‘when through a shift of wind or bad steerage, the wind comes in front of the square sails and lays them back against the masts, instantly staying the ship's onward course and giving her stern way; an accident exceedingly dangerous in a strong gale.’ Sir John Richardson.
1754 EELES Let. 2, in Phil. Trans. XLIX. 144 If they luff up, they will be taken aback, and run the hazard of being dismasted. 1870 Daily News Sept. 16 This proves to my mind that the Captain was taken as flat aback as could be by a squall striking her from starboard.
I also found out that "freeze the balls off a brass monkey" has a nautical origin as well, but I'm still looking that up... Nov 29, 2007