1. I was, to coin a phrase, gobsmacked!

2. He was gobsmacked when he heard of the redundancies.

3. I was gobsmacked when she told me the news.

4. I was really gobsmacked when I saw your picture of a model wearing a hat with a toy airplane on it.

5. Spouse was gobsmacked. After tea and lots of talking, I rang my Mum,() singing the praises of epidurals.

6. I was slightly flummoxed. Well, totally gobsmacked.

7. I can remember feeling gobsmacked, and then calling my wife at home to ask her to start the Lotus Domino services on the home computer.

8. She was gobsmacked to find that the man in black coat was her classmate of primary school.

9. Don't be gobsmacked if genetic testing figures into employment sooner or later.

10. Wandering round the school, I was absolutely gobsmacked at the care that had been taken to get all the props and period details right.

11. Chris Patten, former governor of Hong Kong says the Chinese are "gobsmacked", having long written off Americans as racist.

12. It's tempting to wonder what he'd make of wordsmiths all around re-writing his work; mellowed out or gobsmacked?

13. I really enjoyed meeting the locals, especially the children- they were gobsmacked when they met me.

14. John: Well if you hear some very surprising news – for example...if you found out your best friend dating your brother and they never told you – you might be gobsmacked.

15. Hearne, the girl's mother, said, "When I looked at the clock I was gobsmacked. It is certainly a date to remember."

16. John: Or maybe if Brad Pitt walked in the room now and asked you on a date – I think you would be pretty gobsmacked.

17. The unexpected answer made David Letterman who was anticipating the old lady's severe criticism and tirade against the meal served on the aircraft, gobsmacked into silence and inactivity.

18. This is to appeal to the 'inspiring' qualities of the work, and argue that it will leave schoolchildren gobsmacked and infused with a passion for science.