in Oz
6
9.9
- idiom
- US
- Living in Oz means you can encounter talking animals and magical creatures.
- Dorothy in Oz
Examples
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Oh, Billina, we're back in Oz!
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Sometimes I think she wants to live in Oz forever."
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Yes, all the animals in Oz could talk.
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However, there was a time, before you were born, when life in Oz was different.
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Now I know we're in Oz.
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See you in Oz after Christmas, 4 shows!!
Blog text (11) -
The Nome King doesn't allow chickens anywhere in Oz!
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In Oz, everything is possible, and the ordinary rules don't apply.
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She always felt like she was in Oz when she daydreamed about her adventures.
Antonyms
How Fantastical
Surface Forms
Morphology
in + Oz
The locative composition 'in' + proper name is transparent in form—the preposition 'in' signals location—but the figurative meaning depends on knowing 'Oz' as Baum's fictional/fantastical land. A B1 learner who knows the words but not the cultural reference cannot derive the metaphorical sense, so the expression is only partially predictable.
Etymology
In Oz comes from the book and film 'The Wizard of Oz', where Oz is a strange, magical land far from normal life. Saying you are in Oz creates the image of being in a place where the usual rules do not apply and 'anything is possible', so it means 'in a surreal or magical situation'.