Fig. very close to one, where one lives, or where one is. That kind of thing is quite rare. Imagine it happening right in your backyard.You always think of something like that happening to someone else. You never expect to find it in your own backyard.
In one's own domain, in a position very close to one. For example, You didn't expect to find a first-class organist in your own backyard. [Mid-1900s] Also see close to home.
exclam. & comp. abb. Don’t locate something undesirable close to me. (Describes an attitude that people express about having noisy or dirty facilities installed close to where they live.) When you say, build the new incinerator here, I say NIMBY.