Saturday, June 28, 2008

Pennies

A penny for your thoughts?
君が何を考えてるの?

Comment:
There was one time someone here was just staring into space as if they were thinking about something. If I knew a good way to say this in Japanese, I would have said it - though I probably should have just said it in English anyways.

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A penny saved is a penny earned.
ちりも積もれば山となる。

Comment:
But what can that penny earned buy you?

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pretty penny
かなりな金額 (またかい)

Example:
That Porsche must have cost a pretty penny.
あのポルシェはかなり高かっただろう。

Comment:
It's not a beautiful penny, just an expensive penny...

2 comments:

Unknown said...

First of all, I forget what penny is.
I only remember it appeared in our conversation a short time ago.

OK, penny is a a kind of currency.
ALC translate "A penny for your thoughts?" to 「何を考えてるの?/何か言ってよ。/そんなにもったいぶらないでよ。/君はどう思う?」.
These 4 Japanese expressions are totally different. Especially, if I hear the first one, I may think I am ridiculed. Of course, it depends on the contents of the conversation but the possibility exists.
Considering the literal translation, I think「君はどう思う?」is the most close.

Anuraag said...

「君はどう思う」Wouldn't you use this when asking what someone thinks _about_ something? "A penny for your thoughts?" is to ask what someone is thinking about right now, when you don't know at all.