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What does "strike home" mean in this sentence?:

"This example ought to strike home for you"

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"Home" in this context means the intended target of a weapon. If your opponent's rapier strikes home, he runs you through. –  Malvolio Apr 16 '13 at 3:20

3 Answers 3

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Previous answers suggested that

This example ought to strike home for you

means "This example should be understood by you" or "You should immediately understand this." It's possible that's what the writer meant, but if so, the writer hasn't phrased the sentence well. It's unlikely an informed native speaker would say such a thing with such a meaning.

The fact that ngrams for strike home for you shows no usage of the phrase reinforces how unlikely it is to occur, regardless of meaning; but note that the sentence could arise naturally in dialog like

Here's another good anecdote to include in your speech. This example ought to strike home for you.

In this case, someone is telling you that including a certain anecdote in a speech will serve well to get your message across to the audience.

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Literally, strike home means to deal an effective blow, hit a vulnerable part, or wound critically or mortally.

Figuratively, as in your example, it means to have the intended effect, to hit the mark, or to cause a sudden understanding.

So what they're saying is that the example given should be so relevant and obvious that you immediately gain an understanding of what they were trying to demonstrate.

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Thank you Hellion!!! –  brilliant Jan 28 '11 at 6:09

To strike home for you means to be understood from you.

The sentence could be re-written as

This example was supposed to be understood by you.

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