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Idiom: Neck of the woods
It is very seldom that I meet a person from my neck of the woods here in Japan.
I’m originally from eastern Canada, and very few Canadians from my province seem to end up here.
I’m not sure why, but maybe it’s because most of them end up going to places like Ontario and Alberta instead of going all the way to the West Coast and then heading to Asia.
The idiom neck of the woods means a particular area.
Anyways, today’s idiom – neck of the woods – means a particular area.
If you have a friend in a distant place and then one day run into them on the street in your town, you could say, “Hey, what are you doing in my neck of the woods?”
In British English, a neck is a narrow strip of land with water on both sides, an isthmus.
However, in North America, the idiom ‘neck of the woods,’ meaning area, may come from the native Algonquian word “naiack,” meaning point or corner.
Considering that most of eastern North America was covered in trees a few hundred years ago, asking someone what ‘naiack of the woods’ they lived in would make perfect sense.
Perhaps as time went on, naiack became neck.
I don’t know for sure, but it is a distinct possibility.
In daily conversation, you can use today’s idiom in various ways.
You can talk about the weather and say it’s snowing in your neck of the woods.
Likewise, you can ask someone how the weather is in their neck of the woods.
If you’re overseas and unexpectedly meet someone from your neck of the woods, it’s good to be friendly because you never know when you may bump into them back home again.
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