Does that strike you as a good idea?

I recently taught an idioms lesson to one of my more advanced students and I really enjoyed one idiom so I decided to talk about it on my blog ^_^

to strike (someone) as (something)

So this is used when you want to say something seems to be something. It is used to talk about your opinion about something.

Does anything strike your fancy?

This is an old expression meaning do you see anything you like? You might have a shop clerk ask you this question.

Sally: Does Elaine strike you as a bit stressed out today?
Ruby: Yeah, she has a big project due tomorrow.

Your friend is asking for your opinion about someone else. So Sally is asking Ruby if she thinks Elaine looks stressed out today.

He strikes me as a bad guy.

So I think that he is a bad guy. Be careful, the structure:

He/She/person's name strikes me as ----------.

is used to talk about acquaintances and people you DON'T know well. It would be VERY strange to use it to talk about family members or your close friends. You can use it for people you are close to by adding the word "today" at the end of the sentence.

Jill strikes me as really tired today.

OK, if you have any questions just ask!

Phil