all of a sudden/all of the sudden

As a teacher, I can't tell you the number of times I've come across this one. . .and it annoys me every time.

Simply put, "all of a sudden" is the correct usage in every circumstance known to man. Maybe it's because "the" sounds like "a." I don't know. I'm not sure I even want to know. What I do know is that I clench my teeth and utter some bad words when I see the wrong usage.

So there you have it -- short and sweet. The bottom line is that "all of the sudden" is always nonstandard. Didn't you think it sounded funny the first time you said it or wrote it?

I always thought this was a rather odd phrase to utter anyway. What does it mean? A sudden what?

I guess I'll have to look into that and get back to you. . .or not.