go figure

English

Alternative forms

• go fig (clipping)

Etymology

Calque of Yiddish גיי װייס (gey veys).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɡoʊ ˈfɪɡjɚ/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Phrase

go figure

1. Expresses perplexity, puzzlement, or surprise (as if telling somebody to try to make sense of the situation).

   The car wouldn't start yesterday no matter what I did, but today it works just fine. Go figure.

Usage notes

• Very often used sarcastically/ironically, as a response to a trivial question, to express obviousness, conspicuousness.

  'I wonder why friends with benefits never work out.' 'Well, go figure.'

Translations

expression of perplexity or surprise

Czech: včil mudruj, no chápete to, to mi hlava nebere Dutch: kun je nagaan Finnish: mene ja tiedä, mene tiedä, ota siitä sitten selvää, ota siitä nyt selvää, otapa siitä sitten selvää, otapa siitä nyt selvää French: va savoir pourquoi (fr), va savoir (fr) Galician: vai ti saber, quen sabe German: stell dir vor Greek: τρέχα γύρευε (el) (trécha gýreve) Hebrew: לך תדע (lekh tedá) Hungarian: ezt add össze, erre varrjál gombot, ezt kapd ki Italian: vai a capire Norwegian: skulle du ha sett, rare greier m pl, det hadde jeg ikke trodd, forklar Polish: i bądź tu mądry Portuguese: vai entender Russian: пойди́ разбери́ (pojdí razberí), пойди́ зна́й (pojdí znáj)

See also

• huh
• no kidding
• what do you know
• who knows
• how about that
• what are the odds