Blindsiding

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To catch someone completely off guard by an unforeseen assault or event
2. To take a person by surprise with an unexpected action or attack
3. To confront or hit someone without warning, causing surprise or shock

Etymology: Blindsiding is the present participle of "blindside", a compound of "blind" and "side". The "blind" half traces back through Old English and Proto-Germanic roots to an old sense of being unable to see, while "side" comes from Old English "sīde", referring to the flank or edge of the body. Put together, the image is of an attack that arrives from the side, where a person cannot see it coming. That literal sense is what the word still carries. The "blind" element means unseen rather than sightless, so the compound describes a strike or event that catches someone from a direction they were not watching. Its figurative use, meaning to surprise someone unexpectedly, grows naturally from that original picture of a blow landing from the side.