30587
I'm hoping to confirm (or receive corrections) on a guess I have about the
meaning of a sentence.

I'm reading a manga, and Character A stares at Character B for a long time
with a serious expression. Finally, she says:

> Character A: ペプシコーラとコカ・コーラどっちがいいかな.
>
> Character B: **何を言い出すかと思えば**.

Character B's response leads me to believe that he's saying something like,
"With a serious face like that, I had no idea what you were going to say." But
I'm not sure if I'm correct. As far as I know, 言い出す means to "blurt something
out", but the grammar here is confusing me. Would appreciate anyone being able
to break this down for me, thank you!
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-01-21T01:20:41.297
30586
2021-06-27T10:02:20.710
2020-06-17T08:18:27.500
-1
11274
question
phrases rhetoric
Phrase translation: 何を言い出すかと思えば
> Character A: 「ペプシコーラとコカ・コーラどっちがいいかな。」
>
> Character B: 「[何]{なに}を[言]{い}い[出]{だ}すかと[思]{おも}えば・・」

B's line is basically an _**unfinished sentence**_ that ends in the
conditional 「思えば」. To understand this, you need to be able to finish the
sentence yourself. (I am sure you have heard an explanation like this before.)

First, we know how goofy A's line sounds, don't we? It was not something B had
expected A to say in the given situation, was it? That is when we reply with
an expression like 「何を言い出すかと思えば・・」、「何を言うかと思ったら・・」, etc.

What is left unuttered after that "conditional" clause would be along the
lines of:

> 「そんなことか！」,
>
> 「そんなどうでもいいことか！」, etc.

「そんなこと」 here , of course, refers to A's nonsensical line " _ **Which should I
get, a Pepsi or Coke?**_ "

Unfinished sentences are so common in spoken Japanese that we do not even
think they are unfinished. We do not really "intentionally" omit phrases; it
is just how Japanese has been spoken. Even small kids use these if anyone is
wondering.

It is not easy translating 「何を言い出すかと思えば」 as it is only a clause. To go as
literal as possible while still making sense in English, how about something
like:

_**" Just when I was wondering what (good things) you might say!"**_

What is implied here is that B had expected a much more meaningful
comment/statement from A.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2016-01-21T02:15:21.823
30587
2021-06-27T10:02:20.710
2021-06-27T10:02:20.710
30586
answer