“When she said that, it kind of threw me off.”
When you were talking with your friend, she said that she was having relationship problems with her boyfriend. You thought that they got along really well, so you were surprised to hear that. Now you're telling your girlfriend about that conversation.
When she said that, it kind of threw me off.
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kind of (adjective/adverb)
"Kind of" means "a little" or "somewhat". People often use it in spoken English:
It kind of took me by surprise.
You can use "kind of" before an adjective ("kind of shy") or before a verb ("kind of took me by surprise").
Another phrase with a similar meaning is "somewhat":
Most students find that university courses are somewhat more difficult than the classes that they took in high school.
"Somewhat" is more formal. Use "kind of" for most situations and "somewhat" when discussing academic topics or in writing.
The pronunciation of "kind of" sounds like "kinda".
(something) threw (someone) off
When something unexpected happens, you might get "thrown off". That means that you don't know how to react. You think about what happened a lot and can't concentrate on other things.
Here are some examples of things that might throw someone off:
- being insulted by someone
- hearing some bad news
Physical things can also throw someone off, like:
- getting hit in the head
- not getting enough sleep
- getting sick
Here's how to use "throw ___ off" in a sentence:
A: When you said that, it really threw me off. I was like, "What does she mean, I might need to watch out for Jay? Is he trying to get me fired or something?"
B: No, I didn't mean it that way. Sorry, I didn't mean to throw you off. I just meant...
When (someone) said that, (sentence)
When people tell a story about a conversation, they often explain how they felt about something that a person said.
He said "I'm going to report this to your boss." When he said that, I was like, "Oh crap!"
She told me that she was seventy years old. When she said that, I thought, "Damn, I hope I look that good when I'm seventy!"