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by humphrey on April 29th, 2007

humphrey

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What is the origin of the saying "penny for your thoughts"? Does anyone know of a good site to look up the origins of sayings?

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  • by Morg the Army wife on April 29th, 2007

    Morg the Army wife

    Here you go, scroll down to the bottom and there's a list of sites for explaining where sayings come from:

    http://home.earthlink.net/~ruthpett/safari/megalist.htm

    If it's a penny for your thoughts why do you put your two cents in? :o)

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  • by VSPrasad on December 5th, 2007

    VSPrasad

    PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS - "What's on your mind? (Usually said to someone who is looking pensive.) The saying is from a time when the British penny was worth a significant sum. In 1522, Sir Thomas More wrote (in 'Four Last Things'): 'It often happeth, that the very face sheweth the mind walking a pilgrimage, in such wise that.other folk sodainly say to them a peny for your thought.'" From "The Dictionary of Cliches" by James Rogers (Ballantine Books, New York, 1985).

    http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/24/messages/454.html

    You've been awfully quiet--a penny for your thoughts. This expression dates from the 1500s and was in John Heywood's 1546 collection of proverbs.

    http://www.answers.com/Penny%20for%20your%20thoughts

    (idiomatic) A phrase used to inquire into the thoughts and feelings of another - usually used when the person appears pensive or conflicted.

    http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/penny_for_your_thoughts

    You can try these three sites for origins of sayings:

    http://www.phrases.org.uk/

    http://www.answers.com/

    http://en.wiktionary.org/

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  • by macdjug-Paxvobiscum on December 5th, 2007

    macdjug-Paxvobiscum

    The phrase first appeared in Heywood's proverbs in 1546. It simply meant 'Tell me what you are thinking about.'

    I don't know of any sites but my favorite book of the origins of sayings is, Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable.

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