Jen: How did you like that book I gave you to read? Did you read it all?
Jason: Oh yeah, I enjoyed the book very much. It really gave me food for thought! I learned so much!

제가 Jason에게 “How did you like that book I gave you to read? Did you read it all? 내가 읽으라고 준 책 어땠니? 다 봤어? 라고 묻자 Jason 이 “Oh yeah, I enjoyed the book very much. It really gave me food for thought! I learned so much! 응, 정말 재미있게 읽었어. 깊이 생각할 거리가 많더라고. 참 배운 게 많았어.”라고 대답하네요.

Keep today’s expression ‘food for thought’ in mind and let’s hear the conversation again. 그럼 다시 한번 대화를 들어볼까요?

Jen: How did you like that book I gave you to read? Did you read it all?
Jason: Oh yeah, I enjoyed the book very much. It really gave me food for thought! I learned so much!

Today’s expression is food for thought. Food for thought means to think carefully about something. How did someone come up with this saying? Well, just like the mouth chews on food, people say the mind can chew on thoughts. Something that gives you food for thought makes you think. This expression can be used casually, or in a business conversation.

food는 ‘음식’이라는 뜻이고 ‘thought’는 ‘생각’이라는 말인데요, food for thought 하면 깊이 생각할 거리, 생각할 만한 것’이라는 뜻입니다. 입으로 음식을 씹듯이 마음으로 어떤 생각을 곱씹는다는 얘기죠.

오늘 본문에서 Jason 이 “It really gave me food for thought! I learned so much!”라고 했죠. 이렇게 무언가를 깊이 생각할 때 또는 어떤 것이 마음의 양식이 될 때에 쓸 수 있는 표현이 바로 ‘food for thought’입니다.

이제 예를 들어 볼까요? Let me give you some examples. “That’s food for thought. I’ll think about it a little more.”라고 하면 “그거 생각할 만한 거네. 내가 좀 더 고려해 볼게.”라는 뜻이 됩니다.

또 다른 예를 들어 보겠습니다. “Your book provided me with some interesting food for thought.” 라고 하면 “네 책에 흥미있는 생각 거리가 좀 있더라.”는 뜻이 됩니다.

Now you know what the expression ‘food for thought’ means right? Then we will listen to the conversation for the last time.

Jen: How did you like that book I gave you to read? Did you read it all?
Jason: Oh yeah, I enjoyed the book very much. It really gave me food for thought! I learned so much!

Let’s review. Food for thought is something for someone to think about or to consider. FOOD FOR THOUGHT. Now try using the expression on your own.