Low and Behold - Origin?

Posted by David FG on October 18, 2004

In Reply to: Low and Behold - Origin? posted by Torsten on October 18, 2004

: Hello everbody,

: Who can tell me something about the origin of 'Low and Behold'? I understand it's a phrase expressing surprise but why is 'low' and why 'behold'?
: Thanks in advance
: Torsten

It's actually 'Lo and behold'. Lo is slightly archaic for 'look' and 'behold' for 'see' (or the like) so means something like 'look, see!'

DFG