penny for your thoughts

English

WOTD – 27 February 2009

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpɛn.i fɔː jɔː ˈθɔːts/, /ˈpɛn.i fəː jəː ˈθɔːts/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈpɛn.i fɔɹ jʊɹ ˈθɑts/, /ˈpɛn.i fɔɹ jʊɹ ˈθɔts/, /ˈpɛn.i fɚ jɚ ˈθɑts/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Phrase

penny for your thoughts

1. (idiomatic) Used to inquire into the thoughts and feelings of another, especially when the person appears pensive or conflicted.
   • 1749, Henry Fielding, chapter XIV, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume II, London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book IV, page 106:

     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.

   • 1857–1859, W[illiam] M[akepeace] Thackeray, chapter LIX, in The Virginians. A Tale of the Last Century, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1858–1859, →OCLC:

     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.

   • 1922 February, James Joyce, “[13]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:

     And she said to Gerty:
     —A penny for your thoughts.
     —What? replied Gerty with a smile reinforced by the whitest of teeth.

   • 1854 August 9, Henry D[avid] Thoreau, “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For”, in Walden; or, Life in the Woods, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC:

     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.

   • 1915, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter XXXIII, in Of Human Bondage, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, →OCLC:

     “A penny for your thoughts,” said Miss Wilkinson, looking at him with a smile.
     “I’m not going to tell you,” he answered.
     He was thinking that he ought to kiss her there and then.

   • [1973, Arthur Bremer, An Assassin's Diary, Harper's Magazine Press, →ISBN, page 141:

     Is there any thing else to say? My cry upon firing will be, “A penny for your thoughts.”]

Related terms

• two pennies' worth

Translations

inquiry into the thoughts

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 你在想什麼？／你在想什么？ (nǐ zài xiǎng shénme?) (no exact equivalent exists; lit., "what are you thinking about?")

• Finnish: penni ajatuksistasi
• French: ^{(please verify)} à quoi penses-tu en ce moment ?
• Hungarian: min jár az eszed?, mi jár a fejedben?
• Polish: grosik za twoje myśli
• Swedish: ett öre för dina tankar

See also

• for what it's worth