Simone
to be surprised/​startled/​stunned into (doing) something Hi everyone, could I ask you all what kind of meaning the expressions in the title convey exactly? Here are some example sentences: "Amazing how a bird-of-prey was surprised into loosening its grip!" "A spirited, ‘Good morning, Madam!’ greets me when I open the door, grouchy at having been startled into waking up, eyelids still heavy with sleep, hair all disheveled." "For a moment, one could be stunned into thinking Donald J. Trump was now behaving as if he really wanted to be seen as a candidate with both presidential ambitions and presidential gravitas." Maybe, those particular expressions could be rephrased as : "to be abruptly brought to do something because of a sudden shock"? Thank you for your attention!
Dec 11, 2016 8:40 AM
Answers · 2
They are good expressions. The meaning is that A caused a reaction in you, which then caused B. Here's another one: The salesman talked me into buying a vacuum cleaner that I didn't need.= The salesman talked to me in such a way that I then bought the vacuum cleaner i.e. he persuaded me.
December 11, 2016
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