The phrase "a bit startled that" is correct and usable in written English.
You can use it to express mild surprise or shock about a particular situation or statement.
Example: "I was a bit startled that she decided to leave the company so suddenly."
Alternatives: "somewhat surprised that" or "a little taken aback that".
I was a bit startled that Coll quotes Kiriakou as saying that he will wear his criminal conviction "like a badge of honor".
I remembered, a bit startled, that we were all looking at our phones — a gesture known to disregard the common experience, the present moment.
I was a bit startled that Coll quotes Kiriakou as saying that he will wear his criminal conviction "like a badge of honor". That is exactly what Edward Bennett Williams, the attorney for the former C.I.A. director Richard Helms, said in 1977, after Helms pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor related to his lies to the Senate about the C.I.A.'s activities in Chile.
They seemed a bit startled at first; at least one man, bare-chested, may have been summoned from the shower.
[ image: /photos/59095308ebe912338a372f53] Four years after China whipped itself into a lather to host the most boffo Olympics imaginable, China seems, these days, a bit startled to discover that anyone is bothering to try hosting the Games again.
Here, Claires evident sanity and kindness draw the viewer to her side, and we are a bit startled to discover that she, like everybody else, has weak points and blind spots.
Even cynics were a bit startled by the revelation that Justice Clarence Thomas's wife has been employed by the Heritage Foundation to gather resumes for potential appointments in the next administration.
Daisy Expósito-Ulla, chairwoman and chief executive of the Bravo Group, an advertising and marketing agency that focuses on Hispanic consumers, was a bit startled to be given a lifetime achievement award by Hispanic Business magazine.
This play was so Russdicilous that even Smith looked a bit startled after the dunk.
