How should I translate こともある in this sentence (response to '何それ?'):
あなたが辞書を使うなんて、はなはだ珍妙なこともあるもんです
Literal translation of はなはだ珍妙なこともある would be 'there are also really odd things', but that makes no sense.
One suggestion seems to be that it means 'among other things' so I get:
Because (もん), among other things (こともある), it's really odd that (なんて) you use a dictionary
Is this a correct translation? If so can anyone offer a suggestion as to how we arrive at that from the literal translation? (and why do I have to keep reaching for my advanced grammar book to read a children's story? It's really dispiriting.)
Answer
The latter part is in line with: "wow, strange things happen!"
もん (ものだ) is used here emphatically to indicate emotion (hence I decided for "wow").
こともある literally stands for occasionally, but as the English verb to happen already covers the occasional aspect the meaning can be expressed just with "things happen".
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