1. Pansies for thought.
The origin of the word pansy is reputed to be the French word pensée, meaning thought. The idea is that the face of the flower, particularly when it nods in the heat, looks like a person in thought. The name dates back to the 15th century and was given to wild violas, probably Johnny jump-ups. Ophelia, the doomed young lady in Hamlet, listing the qualities of flowers she hands out when she goes mad, declares: “There’s pansies, that’s for thoughts.”