more than one bargained for
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Experienced something unexpected and usually unpleasant
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Trải qua điều gì đó không lường trước được và thường không mong muốn
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: got more than paid for
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The hikers got more than they bargained for when they encountered a bear
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “more than one bargained for” mean?
Experienced something unexpected and usually unpleasant Literally: got more than paid for
Is “more than one bargained for” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.