neck of the woods
21
3.2
- idiom
- Informal
:
zona
- What brings you to this neck of the woods?
- happening in your neck of the woods
- weather in your neck of the woods
- own little neck of the woods
Well, currently I am in your neck of the woods.
- Well, currently I am in your neck of the woods.
- Well, another big bust is from my neck of the woods.
- Bryant, as everybody knows, has suffered A tragic helicopter crash actually in our neck of the woods.
Examples
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If you are ever in this neck of the woods, please drop in and see me.
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There's an outstanding food chain in our neck of the woods called Stew Leonard's.
Blog text (33) -
And she may be in your neck of the woods, I think.
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What brings you to my neck of the woods?
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A guy from your neck of the woods.
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Why you coming to my neck of the woods?
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Well, well, Carter, how are things out in your neck of the woods?
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Hey, I hear you'll be in my neck of the woods next week.
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In this neck of the woods, it's customary to pay a 10% service fee.
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If you are ever in this neck of the woods, please drop in and see me.
Synonyms
∞
1.8
An area in a town or city where people live near each other
129
3.7
The area near a place, for example shops or houses
23
3.9
An area near a place where people live or work
How Familiar
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase uses a transparent metaphorical mapping from 'neck' (a narrow part) + 'woods' (a region of trees) to mean a particular part of a region, so a learner who knows the words may guess it refers to a specific area. However the extended, idiomatic use to mean simply 'one's neighborhood/region' (not literally a wooded neck) is conventionalized and may not be fully predictable without exposure. For these reasons it is only partially transparent to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Neck of the woods may come from the image of a narrow neck of land inside a group of woods, a small, named part of a forest. So when you say someone is in your neck of the woods today, you mean their 'local area' or 'neighborhood'.