close to home

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close to home (comparative closer to home, superlative closest to home)

1. (idiomatic) Affecting people close to, or within, one's family circle.
2. (figurative) Affecting one personally through deep familiarity.

   to hit close to home

   • 1985, Johnny Marr, Morrissey (lyrics and music), “That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore”, in Meat is Murder, performed by The Smiths:

     […] when you laugh about people who feel so very lonely / […] I wish I could laugh / but that joke isn't funny anymore / it's too close to home / and it's too near the bone

   • 2006 April 15, Nick Kent, “What a drag”, in The Guardian‎, →ISSN:

     Watching another icon's anguished passing was evidently far too close to home for him to comfortably endure.

   • 2022 September 7, Jennifer Elias, quoting Sundar Pichai, “Google CEO says he hopes to make company 20% more efficient, hints at potential cuts”, in CNBC‎:

     Smiling, Pichai said he never watched the popular show [Silicon Valley]. “Too close to home,” he remarked. “You watch TV to relax.”

   • 2024 May 14, Paul Burston, “Should Baby Reindeer’s creator have written about his alleged stalker? I did the same thing – and it helped me heal”, in The Guardian‎, →ISSN:

     Friends warned me against watching Baby Reindeer, the hit Netflix series about the comedian Richard Gadd and “Martha”, the character based on his alleged real-life stalker. It was too close to home, they said.