What Does A Penny For Your Thoughts Mean? A penny for your thoughts is an idiom that is usually said when you want to know what the other person is thinking.
It is just another way of saying, “what are you thinking about?” or “what is going on in your mind?”
You can use the phrase “a penny for your thoughts” if you notice that the person just went silent when you both were in a conversation.
If you do not want to directly ask the person what is wrong or what made him quiet, you can simply say ‘’You have been quiet for no reason, a penny for your thoughts?’’.
That way, you are indirectly asking the person what happened to him and what is going through his mind.
Best 20 Responses to “A Penny For Your Thoughts”
- Are you sure you want to know?
- If I tell you, you will not understand
- Well, I am just overthinking
- Stop acting as if you care
- I cannot trust you enough to tell you
- I am just sad about something
- I do not want to talk about it yet
- I did not do well in an exam, I am worried about it
- I just remembered something that made me really sad
- It is none of your business
- Well, do not ask me because you are the cause
- I do not want you to feel sympathy toward me
- I will tell you, but please do not tell anyone
- Please act like you did not see anything
- I am dealing with something, I appreciate your concern
- I would rather not disturb you with my personal issues
- Do you not think you are being too nosey
- If you were a true friend you should know what is wrong with me
- We are not that close, I cannot share it with you
- You have never asked me what was wrong with me, What changed?
Are you sure you want to know?
If you were in a conversation with a person and all of a sudden you got quiet because something was wrong, and the person tells you a penny for your thoughts the person is indirectly asking you what is wrong.
To reply, ask if the person is sure he wants to know. Sometimes people do not know something about you, they just want to be able to keep tabs on you.
Ask if the person wants to know, if he says yes, then you can go ahead to answer the person if you wish.
If I tell you, you will not understand
This is a reply you can use if what is happening to you is way beyond what the person can comprehend.
If that is what it seems, then you do not need to bother yourself trying to explain to the person. Once you can decipher if the person will understand it or not, you should give this reply.
Well, I am just overthinking
It could be that you just got quiet when you all were talking and you started overthinking about something.
If that is the case, tell the person that you were just overthinking something and that he should not take it so seriously.
The moment you tell him that you are just overthinking, he will not take it too seriously. He would not bother asking too much again.
Stop acting as if you care
This is a reply that you can use when you already know that the person does not care and barely shows any care at all.
If the person does not care how come he is acting as if he cares? This is one thing you need to look out for as well.
This reply will show the person that you already know that he does not care so why is he acting as if he cares?
I cannot trust you enough to tell you
This shows that you do not trust the person so much or that you both are not close and there are some secrets that you cannot share with people that you do not trust or do not know.
It is ok if you do not trust the person and you do not want to tell the person what happened to you.
If you do not feel safe telling the person, please do not even tell the person at all. Your safety should always be first.
I am just sad about something
This is a simple reply that you can use if you are truly sad about something that happened and you do not know exactly what happened.
In your reply, just tell the person that you are sad about something and that is what is happening to you.
That way, the person would know if he should ask you more questions about it to help or leave you to solve the problem yourself.
I do not want to talk about it yet
This shows that you do not want to talk about the issue now and you prefer to not say anything at all.
When you give this reply, the person will understand that you do not want to talk about it and it is ok if you do not want to talk about something that is bothering you.
You can simply tell the person that you choose to keep it to yourself.
I did not do well in an exam, I am worried about it
Maybe you are a student and you remember that you did not do well in an exam and it made you start to feel bad.
That could make you worried and you may start to think about it. In a situation like this, explain to the person what happened and if there is any solution the person will be able to tell if he can help or not.
I just remembered something that made me really sad
This is a reply you can use if you just remembered something that happened that made you really sad. It could be that you just remembered something that happened that made you really sad.
You may not be able to tell the person what happened, you can simply tell him that you do not want to tell about it.
It is none of your business
You can use this reply if you do not like the person at all or you do not want to have anything to do with the person because you both do not flow, you can tell the person bluntly that it is none of his business.
This reply may seem so direct, but it is a good reply that you can use. If the person gets the message that you do not know what to tell him.
Well, do not ask me because you are the cause
You can only use this reply if you notice that the person is the cause of what happened to you. With this reply, the person will understand that he is the cause of what happened to you.
If he did not know before, now that you have mentioned it, he already has an idea of what you have in mind and he is already aware that he is the cause of what happened to you.
I do not want you to feel sympathy toward me
This is a reply you can use if you do not want the person to feel too much sympathy towards you because you know that what happened to you is so bad and it could make the person feel sympathy towards you.
If you do not want the person’s sympathy at all, do not even bother telling the person what happened to you. This reply will help.
I will tell you, but please do not tell anyone
This is a reply you can use if you do not want the person to expose what happened to you. Imagine a situation where something really bad happens to you and you do not want the person to let other people know.
If you do not want the person to tell anyone and that is the main reason why you do not want to tell him what happened to you, then you can simply tell him that you do not want to tell him because he does not want others to know about it.
Please act like you did not see anything
This way, you do not want to expose yourself to the person and you do not want the person to know more about you either.
You can simply tell the person that even though he saw you being quiet and thinking and you do not want the person to act
I am dealing with something, I appreciate your concern
You can use this reply if you are truly dealing with something and it made you quiet when you all were talking.
If the person saw you quiet and asked you what happened that made you quiet, you can tell the person that you are dealing with something and you appreciate the person’s concern.
Even though you do not want the person to know what happened to you, you can simply appreciate the person for his concern.
I would rather not disturb you with my issues
This shows that you feel like you do not want to disturb the person with your issue.
Sometimes, people do not bother if you tell them about your issues, but if as a person you do not want to disturb the person with your issues, then you should go ahead to reply to the person this way.
Do you not think you are being too nosey
This is a reply you can use if you know the person as someone who likes to know what is going on in the lives of others even when he has no business in it.
Ask the person if he is being too nosey, that way, he will learn to mind his business and not poke his nose where he is not supposed to.
It may sound harsh, but this is a good approach that you can use.
If you were a true friend you should know what is wrong with me
This is a reply showing that you expected more from the person because you both have been friends for a long time and you expected the person to be able to tell when something is wrong with you.
But because the person was not able to tell, in your reply you can reply sarcastically that if he were a true friend he should have known what was wrong with you.
We are not that close, I cannot share it with you
This is a straightforward reply that shows that you are not willing to tell him what is wrong with you because you both are not close enough.
That way, the person will understand that you are only playing safe. You cannot tell someone you do not know your insecurities because you did not know what the person plans to do with them and who the person could tell.
You have never asked me what was wrong with me, What changed?
This is a reply that you can use if you both have known each other for a long while and the person has never taken the time to ask you what was wrong with you.
Ask him what changed, this is because you want to know if there is anything that changed that made him ask what was wrong with you.
Final Words
You must have been in a conversation with friends and suddenly someone among you guys just got silent and he went from talking a lot to just keeping calm and quiet.
If this happens, then you should know that something must have happened to the person. If you are the person in question and someone tells you – a penny for your thoughts, know that he is trying to know what you are thinking of.
You can use any of the replies I have explained in this article.