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Definition 2024


more_than_one_bargained_for

more than one bargained for

English

Noun

more than one bargained for (uncountable)

  1. (idiomatic) An unexpected and, usually, unwanted result of a decision or action.
    • 1874, Ambrose Bierce, "Fables of Zambri, the Parsee" in Cobwebs From an Empty Skull:
      This was more than he had bargained for, and he squeaked shrilly with the pain.
    • 1919, Upton Sinclair, Jimmie Higgins, ch. 22:
      The sound of guns grew louder. . . . [W]hat if the Germans were to break through and sweep over all calculations? This was a little more than Jimmie Higgins had bargained for when he entered the recruiting-office in Leesville, U.S.A.!
    • 1987 July 27, Cristina Garcia, "Law: Casting A Net at Green River," Time (retrieved 23 May 2015):
      [T]hey found much and more than they had bargained for. Nestled amid the weeds and debris near the bottom of the slope was a human skull.
    • 2015 Jan. 14, "Bull elephant gets too close for comfort in Thai park" (video), New York Times (retrieved 23 May 2015):
      A bull elephant gave tourists in Thailand more than they bargained for on Sunday when it sat on and rubbed itself along their cars.

Usage notes

1841, James Fenimore Cooper, The Deerslayer, ch. 5:
"Something more may turn up from this inroad of the red-skins than they bargained for."
2008 Oct. 9, Samantha M. Shapiro, "Kosher Wars," New York Times (retrieved 25 May 2015):
[H]e set about creating an alternative that met his ideal of kosher, a process more arduous than he bargained for.