play illustration of a man watching a washing machine overflow
Commonly Confused

'All over sudden' vs. 'All of a sudden'

We'll help you figure it out at once


Is the correct phrase 'all over sudden' or 'all of a sudden'? Senior Editor Emily Brewster explains.

Transcript

Sometimes a word that sounds like the right word and feels like the right word isn't actually the right word. It's an eggcorn. Something that happens sooner than expected doesn't happen "all over sudden," it happens "all of a sudden." Sudden here is an obsolete noun meaning an unexpected occurrence.

Up next

play calendar that says day today
Is It 'day today' or 'day-to-day'?

 

What about Day Tomorrow?

play video ending a sentence with a preposition
Ending a Sentence with a Preposition

 

An old-fashioned rule we can no longer put up with.

play video soup vs soop
An Abbreviated History of American English Spelling

 

Soop, wimmen, and headake did not make the cut

play emily brewster and one and the same text graphic
'One in the same' or 'One and the same'?

 

Is it all the same anyway?

play mrs malaprop
What is a malaprop?

 

We'll tell you all the perpendiculars