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Maruko's sister doesn't seem to care about saving her from wild dogs:

> まる子はあまりのことに、思わず箸を落としそうになった。  
>  Maruko almost dropped her chopsticks.

What does あまりのことに mean in this sentence?

I have a grammar book with the formula, あまりのnounに, with the meaning of
"because the degree is too high", but all the examples use a noun derived from
an adjective (as you would expect given the definition).

Given the above, I guess it just means "at such a thing" / "on hearing such a
thing" etc. Could I replace it with something like そんなことで without changing the
meaning?
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2022-06-11T16:47:04.417
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2022-06-12T04:22:01.870
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question
grammar
Meaning of あまりのことに
It is something like "such a thing", but あまりのことに does not have much
possibility to be replaced by something else (without changing nuances).

[あまり](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E4%BD%99%E3%82%8A_%28%E3%81%82%E3%81%BE%E3%82%8A%29/#jn-6483)
means

> ［形動］［文］［ナリ］  
>  １ 程度のはなはだしいさま。予想を超えているさま。「値段が―に高い」「―な剣幕に恐れをなす」  
>  ２ 話にならないほど度が過ぎてひどいさま。あんまり。「―な仕打ちに怒る」

Here it is #2. The closest equivalent in English may be "too much", which I
believe is usually negative. So あまりのこと means literally "something that is too
much". In the particular context, Maruko thought what she heard just now was
extraordinary/outrageous/unbelievable.

* * *

あ **ん** まり has a similar usage:

  * それはあんまりだ That is too much (e.g. too cruel, too inconsiderate, etc.)
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2022-06-11T23:14:26.117
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2022-06-12T04:22:01.870
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answer