View source for penny for your thoughts

==English==
{{was wotd|2009|February|27}}

===Pronunciation===
* {{a|UK}} {{IPA|en|/ˈpɛn.i fɔː jɔː ˈθɔːts/|/ˈpɛn.i fəː jəː ˈθɔːts/}}
* {{a|US}} {{IPA|en|/ˈpɛn.i fɔɹ jʊɹ ˈθɑts/|/ˈpɛn.i fɔɹ jʊɹ ˈθɔts/|/ˈpɛn.i fɚ jɚ ˈθɑts/}}
* {{audio|en|en-us-penny for your thoughts.ogg|Audio (US)}}
* {{audio|en|en-au-penny for your thoughts.ogg|Audio (AU)}}

===Phrase===
{{head|en|phrase}}

# {{lb|en|idiomatic}} {{non-gloss definition|Used to inquire into the [[thought]]s and [[feeling]]s of another, especially when the person appears [[pensive]] or [[conflict]]ed.}}
#* {{RQ:Fielding Tom Jones|book=IV|volume=II|chapter=XIV|page=106|passage=One day, as your ladyship was playing on the harpsichord to my master, Mr Jones was sitting in the next room, and methought he looked melancholy. La! says I, Mr Jones, what's the matter? a '''penny for your thoughts''', says I.}}
#* {{RQ:Thackeray Virginians|chapter=LIX|passage=As for Harry, he sate in very deep meditation over the scene; and when Mrs. Lambert offered him a '''penny for his thoughts''', he said, “That he thought, Young Norval, Douglas, What-d'ye-call-'em, the fellow in white satin—who looked as old as his mother—was very lucky to be able to distinguish himself so soon.}}
#* {{RQ:Joyce Ulysses|chapter=13|passage=And she said to Gerty:<br/>—A '''penny for your thoughts'''.<br/>—What? replied Gerty with a smile reinforced by the whitest of teeth.}}
#* {{RQ:Thoreau Walden|chapter=Where I Lived, and What I Lived For|passage=The penny-post is, commonly, an institution through which you seriously offer a man that '''penny for his thoughts''' which is so often safely offered in jest.}}
#* {{RQ:Maugham Of Human Bondage|chapter=XXXIII|passage=“A '''penny for your thoughts''',” said Miss Wilkinson, looking at him with a smile.<br/>“I’m not going to tell you,” he answered. <br/>He was thinking that he ought to kiss her there and then.}}
#* {{quote-book|en|author=w:Arthur Bremer|title=w:An Assassin's Diary|year=1973|publisher=Harper's Magazine Press|page=141|brackets=on|pageurl=https://archive.org/details/assassinsdiary0000brem/page/141/mode/1up|isbn=978-0-06-120470-8|passage=Is there any thing else to say? My cry upon firing will be, “'''A penny for your thoughts'''.”}}

====Related terms====
* {{l|en|two pennies' worth}}

====Translations====
{{trans-top|inquiry into the thoughts}}
* Chinese:
*: Mandarin: {{t|cmn|[[你]][[在]][[想]][[什麼]]？|tr=nǐ zài xiǎng shénme?}} {{qualifier|no exact equivalent exists; lit., "what are you thinking about?"}}
* Finnish: {{t|fi|penni ajatuksistasi}}
* French: {{t-check|fr|[[à]] [[quoi]] [[penses-tu]] [[en]] [[ce]] [[moment]] ?}} <!-- was "à quoi penses-tu en ce moment ?" - assumed sum-of-parts; if an idiom, remove the wikilinks to the individual words. see [[User:Kephir/gadgets/xte#Translation_fixing]] -->
* Hungarian: {{t|hu|[[min]] [[jár]] [[az]] [[eszed]]?}}, {{t|hu|[[mi]] [[jár]] [[a]] [[fejedben]]?}}
* Polish: {{t|pl|grosik za twoje myśli}}
* Swedish: {{t|sv|ett öre för dina tankar}}
{{trans-bottom}}

====See also====
* {{l|en|for what it's worth}}