[Idiom] That was on my mind

JarekSteliga said:

What is the meaning of this statement?

1. That is what troubled me.

or

2. That is what I had in mind.

or

3. Something else?


I would vote for the interpretaion number 1 and number 1 only, but then again this fragment of a very popular song "you are always on my mind" suggests that interpretation number 2 is also correct.

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emsr2d2 said:

"You were always on my mind" means "I was thinking about you all the time".

I have something on my mind = something is troubling me/I am a little worried about something.
This is what I had in mind = this is what I was thinking about/this was the idea I had.

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JarekSteliga said:

Thank you, but I hoped to establish a link between the expression in the subject matter of my thread and the two proposed interpretations (or the lack thereof)

Let me put my question in a context. Let's imagine this conversation:

A. My husband went on a business trip to some African country ... I don't quite remember which now.
B. Angola?
C. Yes! That was on my mind.

My question is whether this use of "on my mind" is acceptable. I have a gut feeling that it is not, but in view of "you are always on my mind" I am not so sure. However my bet is: "C. Yes! That is what I had in mind."

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