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Origin documented
“A penny for your thoughts”
What it means
What are you thinking about?
Where it comes from
A penny was a real but modest sum in the sixteenth century, roughly an hour of unskilled labour. Offering one for someone’s private thoughts was a small joke about their value.
How sure are we?
Recorded by Thomas More in 1522, which makes it one of the oldest phrases in this collection still in everyday use.