In this mini episode, you will learn the phrase “hits close to home.”
Episode 295 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you the phrase “hits close to home.” Send your questions about English and your suggestions for future episodes to EverybodyESL@gmail.com! (And let me know if you’d like to record the introduction to a future episode.)
Intro
“Hi! This is Nitun here, from Bangladesh. You are listening to Everybody ESL. Enjoy.”
Welcome to episode 295 of Everybody ESL, the podcast for everybody who wants to improve their English, practice their English, or just learn more English. My name is Ben, and I have a mini episode for you today, where I am going to teach you about one English topic. You can subscribe to the Everybody ESL podcast at Apple podcasts, on the Stitcher app, and wherever you find your podcasts. If you like Everybody ESL, leave it a good review so other people can find out about it too. And if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for me, please send an email to everybodyESL@gmail.com. Okay! Let’s get on with this mini episode.
The episode
In this episode, I am going to teach you an interesting phrase. A long time ago, one of my listeners, Katherine, asked me about this, and I am finally getting to this topic. The phrase is “hits close to home.” Hits close to home. That’s hits—h-i-t-s, close—c-l-o-s-e, to—t-o, home—h-o-m-e. Hits close to home.
What does it mean if something hits close to home? If something hits close to home, that means it is too personal. It is about a subject that feels too personal. A subject that someone is very sensitive about. A subject that someone really doesn’t want to talk about. This subject makes someone feel very uncomfortable.
And you will often hear this expression as “hits too close to home.” Hits too close to home. Too—t-o-o. In other words, it is much too personal. The person is extremely sensitive about this topic.
You will often hear “hits close to home” or “hits too close to home” when someone is talking about a joke or a comment or an insult or an argument. Something like that.
Let me give you an example of a situation where someone might say that something hits close to home.
Let’s say that I am very unhappy about getting older. This is something that really bothers me, and I talk about it a lot. People know that this really bothers me. I don’t like it. I don’t like getting older! One day, one of my friends makes some kind of joke about how old I am. Maybe they make a joke about how I am like their grandfather or something like that. They are calling me very old.
And then I say to my friend, “Hey, that joke hits too close to home.” That joke hits too close to home. In other words, “That joke feels too personal. You know that I’m sensitive about that. You have said something that hits me in a very personal place. It hits me in a very personal way. It’s not okay. That joke is too much. I don’t like it. It feels too personal. It doesn’t feel fun. I’m taking it very seriously.”
And that’s what “hits close to home” or “hits too close to home” means. It means that something feels too personal. It is something that someone is very sensitive about.
I think this is an interesting expression, and it’s something that you should know.
Outro
This is the end of episode 295 of Everybody ESL. Remember: if you have any questions about English, or if you have comments or suggestions for me, or if you would like to record an introduction that I can play at the beginning of future episodes—the same way Nitun recorded the introduction you heard at the beginning of this episode—send an email to EverybodyESL@gmail.com. I’ll be back soon with a new episode, and until then, keep going, keep practicing, and keep learning. I’ll see you soon. Goodbye!