Re: "to have something on the brain"
- From: "Alan Jones" <atj@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2005 19:16:55 GMT
"Holger Metzger" <usenet@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:dlkno2$5u8$1@xxxxxxxxxxxx
>I had a talk with a British exchange student today about an translation
> from German into English. The (very informal) German text described
> something a person can't get out of his head. I suggested the phrase
> mentioned in the subject, "have something on the brain". The girl looked
> kind of stunned, and it dawned on me that I, obviously, had said
> something very stupid. She said, "You mean 'on your mind'". She had
> never heard of the phrase I had used. I'm confused now whether the
> phrase/idiom I had suggested is English at all... I was so certain it
> existed. So what's the deal here?
"On *the* brain" sounds odd - it has to be "on his brain" or "on one's
brain" or some such.
To have something "on one's mind" means (BrE) to be thinking about it with
some anxiety or concern, not just to be often thinking about it. There's
also "to have something in mind", meaning to be taking it into account, and
"I have it in mind to do X" meaning "I am considering doing X".
Alan Jones
.
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