kind of (do something)

"Kind of" means "a little" or "somewhat". All of these words are most commonly used before an adjective:

I feel kind of obligated to go.

You look a little sick. Are you OK?

It's somewhat smaller than I thought it would be.

But only "kind of" sounds right before a verb, and only in casual conversation:

I kind of wanted to go with them. 

We want to move, but we're kind of waiting for him to finish school.

People sometimes pronounce "kind of" in a way that sounds like "kinda".

take (someone) by surprise

To "take ___ by surprise" means to suddenly surprise someone. This phrase is probably as common as "surprise ___", or maybe even more common. Here's an example:

A: What did you think of the end of the movie?

B: It totally took me by surprise.