>Well, while I haven't the foggiest notion where it came from, "falling pregnant" is a term I have known for a very long time and didn't even consider as potentially uncommon!

Me too, although it is a term I would have heard more from my parents generation than mine. I can't remember the word "pregnant" being used by them. They were more likely to say that someone was "having a baby".

If the phrase "fell pregnant" was used, it was often euphemised to fall or fell, as in "when I fell for the first time" [knowing look, to make sure you knew which kind of "fall"]. The Google searchability quotient gives the first listed sites using the term "fell pregnant" as nz, au or uk, so I assume that is where it is most used.

Dr Bill - I can only assume that the term relates to the later definition of "fall" to do with a change of state. I don't remember it only being used for "surprise" preganancies. I hadn't thought of a negative connotation until you mentioned it. In fact, on searching I found sites giving advice for those who were finding it difficult to fall pregnant.

Rubrick - I thought most pregancies in Eire before 1960 were a result of immaculate conception or a visit from the fairies - I can't imagine my elderly Irish relatives using the word pregnant, let alone "fell pregnant".