the penny drops

뜻

someone finally understands something after a while

시간이 좀 지나서야 비로소 무언가를 이해하다.

예문

1. 1I stared at the maths problem for ages, and then suddenly the penny dropped.
2. 2Sometimes the penny drops only when you try to explain the idea to someone else.
3. 3Leo didn't understand why we were laughing, but after a minute the penny dropped and he laughed too.
4. 4Some pupils need three or four examples of a new rule before the penny drops.
5. 5My sister explained the plot twice, but the penny dropped only when we watched the film again.

문법

절로 쓴다. drops만 형태가 바뀐다: dropped, has dropped. the penny는 단수형 그대로 쓴다.