The Chinese word "出乎意料" is formed by combining the prepositional phrase "出乎", composed of 出 (to go out) and 乎 (a classical particle meaning "from" or "than"), with the noun "意料", composed of 意 (thought) and 料 (to estimate). "出乎" means "to go beyond", and "意料" means "expectation", so the phrase literally structures "beyond expectation" to convey the meaning of "unexpected".