<h3>Figuring things out</h3>
<p>There is a very similar metaphor in English, but usage is much more restricted:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>When I told John the money was gone, I could <strong>see the wheels turning</strong> (in his head).</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Very often the use is:</p>
<ol>
<li>A person learns some new or surprising information.</li>
<li>This information <em>causes</em> the person to think, and they slowly start figuring out the implications of it.</li>
<li>They look like they're staring into space, eyes sort of glazed over.</li>
</ol>
<p>An expression with almost the exact same use as <em>&quot;see the wheels turning (in X's head)&quot;</em> is <em>&quot;(X started to) put the pieces together&quot;</em>. To continue with the tale of deception and treachery above:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>By the time he had <strong>put the pieces together</strong>, it was too late--Bill had already fled the country with all of the cash.</p>
</blockquote>
<h3>Concentrating deeply</h3>
<p>I don't think there are any rotation-oriented metaphors for the scenario where you are <em>actively</em> trying to think about something (rather than being spurred into thought by the information). A common enough, if somewhat silly idiom is <em>&quot;Put on your thinking cap&quot;</em>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Hey class, let's <strong>put on our thinking caps</strong> and try to solve this problem!</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I'm open for alternative suggestions (that are less suited to elementary school).</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-05-10T21:36:07.707Z
2013-05-10T21:36:07.707Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
Stumpy Joe Pete
<p>When I first came across the phrase "head starts spinning", I thought it meant 大脑迅速转动起来 in Chinese, which means "you start processing a lot info in your head in order to figure out something quickly". But I was shocked when seeing in a dict that "someone's head is spinning" means "that person feels as if she(he) might faint".</p>

<p>So how to say 大脑迅速转动起来 in English?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-05-11T04:37:49.680Z
This question belongs to ell.stackexchange.com
NS.X.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-05-11T06:53:27.887Z
大脑迅速转动起来 is a figure of speech, not even commonly used in Chinese. Why bother to even find a translation for it? Wouldn't something like `quickly think` of a solution do?
杨以轩
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2013-07-10T11:17:49.567Z
This question appears to be off-topic because it is about English not Chinese.
BertR
<word-choice><translation><phrase>
how to translate 大脑迅速转动起来?
# how to translate 大脑迅速转动起来?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-05-10)

When I first came across the phrase "head starts spinning", I thought it meant 大脑迅速转动起来 in Chinese, which means "you start processing a lot info in your head in order to figure out something quickly". But I was shocked when seeing in a dict that "someone's head is spinning" means "that person feels as if she(he) might faint".

So how to say 大脑迅速转动起来 in English?

**Tags:** word-choice, translation, phrase

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: This question belongs to ell.stackexchange.com  
> **username_2**: 大脑迅速转动起来 is a figure of speech, not even commonly used in Chinese. Why bother to even find a translation for it? Wouldn't something like `quickly think` of a solution do?  
> **username_3**: This question appears to be off-topic because it is about English not Chinese.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2013-05-10. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

### Figuring things out

There is a very similar metaphor in English, but usage is much more restricted:

> When I told John the money was gone, I could **see the wheels turning** (in his head).

Very often the use is:

1. A person learns some new or surprising information.
2. This information *causes* the person to think, and they slowly start figuring out the implications of it.
3. They look like they're staring into space, eyes sort of glazed over.

An expression with almost the exact same use as *"see the wheels turning (in X's head)"* is *"(X started to) put the pieces together"*. To continue with the tale of deception and treachery above:

> By the time he had **put the pieces together**, it was too late--Bill had already fled the country with all of the cash.

### Concentrating deeply

I don't think there are any rotation-oriented metaphors for the scenario where you are *actively* trying to think about something (rather than being spurred into thought by the information). A common enough, if somewhat silly idiom is *"Put on your thinking cap"*:

> Hey class, let's **put on our thinking caps** and try to solve this problem!

I'm open for alternative suggestions (that are less suited to elementary school).


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