Meaning of 'quite at home being home'

Question

I read this in a novel, it was written like this: 'I sensed that after four decades of motel living he wasn't quite at home being home.' Is it some sort of expression and can there be any alternatives if I use it anywhere in the future? I mean its use age.

Answer 1

The sentence is using two different meanings of "home" to make a nice turn of phrase. "At home" can mean literally being in one's place of dwelling, but it also has a figurative meaning:

At ease as if in one's own home; in one's element; familiar or conversant with; well versed in. (Oxford English Dictionary)

"Being home" is then used literally, talking about him being in his house rather than in a motel. Therefore, "not quite at home being home" means that he is not as at ease in his own house as one would expect him to be.

Another expression with the same meaning as the figurative use of "at home" is "in one's element," meaning that someone is in a place or situation where he or she feels very comfortable or capable.

Answer 2

"At home" is an idiom meaning feeling comfortable and at ease somewhere or in a situation.

It comes from the assumption that people will hopefully feel at ease in their own home, and so if I say "he is at home on the football pitch" it means "he is as much at ease on the football pitch as he would be in his own home".

Hence "he wasn't quite at home being home" means he entirely wasn't comfortable and at ease in his home. It deliberately turns runs a figurative use of "home" up against a literal use of "home" so that the irony of their not agreeing adds weight to the sense that this is a sorry state to be in.

Is it some sort of expression

Yes, to "be at home" is an expression as given above.

It's a bit of a cliché though, and most uses aren't going to be as fresh as in this case as most won't have that irony of making the figurative and literal senses clash.

(Of course, if everyone used it that way all the time, that'd become even more of a cliché).

Answer 3

We have a feeling of being at home in familiar places. Feeling at home means the sense of comfort one derives from familiar surroundings etc.

So if we have lived in hotels for several years, it is possible that the only place one will feel at home will be in a hotel. In this case the person concerned was not able to feel at home when at home!