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Welcome to the English we speak with me, Jane.

And me, Neil. Are you okay? You look really stressed.

Well, I had a crazy lunch. I went to the park to eat my lunch, but then I couldn't find my nuts.

Then I saw who stolen them.

Was it Rob?

No it wasn't. I looked everywhere and lo and behold a squirrel had stolen them.

What? What did you say? behold, a squirrel had stolen them.

What? What did you say? Lower and below?

No, Neil, I said, low and behold, which is often used to express surprise at an event or introduce an unexpected part of the story.

Ah, that makes sense. Like a strange coincidence. Like the other day I wanted some biscuits but lo and behold guess who'd eaten them all

Rob let's talk about some other surprising twists after these examples. I was just thinking about my uncle when, lo and behold, he rang.

I'd completely forgotten to finish just one task and lo and behold it was the only one my boss asked for.

My wife was so angry the other day, lo and behold it was her birthday and I'd forgotten.

You're listening to the English we speak from BBC Learning English and we're talking

about the expression, lo and behold. We use this expression to introduce a surprising

event to a story we're telling.

So what happened after you saw the squirrel had stolen your nuts in the park?

Well I set to the squirrel, hey you, give me back my nuts and lo and behold the squirrel returned my food

That's amazing that squirrel must have felt really guilty

Yes, he apologized you see he didn't mean to steal my nuts, but he needed them.

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