mind-boggling

adjective phrase

- very difficult to imagine or to understand; extremely surprising

Oxford Dictionary

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WORD ORIGIN

The expression mind-boggling, which first surfaced in the 1960s, is used to express mock bewilderment or ironic speculation about something. The word boggle means to cause someone or something to have difficulty imagining or understanding something or to be very surprised and uncertain about how to deal with something. It’s a 16th century word meaning "to start with fright" and originally referred to horses.

Perhaps it’s appropriate that the 1960s brought us the expression mind-boggling, given the significant changes that occurred during this decade.

Apart from the social upheaval experienced by many Western countries including Britain, Germany and the United States, the world witnessed the first manned expedition to the moon, a string of political assassinations that shook the world and several advances in technology that many of us take for granted today:

- The first working laser was demonstrated in 1960
- Touch-tone telephones were introduced in 1964
- Sony brings the first home video tape recorder to market in 1965
- South African cardiac surgeon Christiaan Barnard conducts the world’s first successful heart transplant in 1967
- ARPANET, the predecessor to the Internet, was invented in 1969

How soon we forget!

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SYNONYMS

arresting, interesting, intriguing, provocative, tantalizing, titillating, absorbing, engrossing, gripping, riveting, enthralling, fascinating, spellbinding

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Practice OWAD in a conversation:

"The rise in the company’s share price this year has been simply MIND-BOGGLING."