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Everyone is familiar with a situation where your conversation partner mentions an idea or a topic that you just can't stop thinking about for days without end.

To quote an economist Robert Lucas Jr.

Is there some action a government could take that would lead the economy to grow[...] once one starts to think about them, it is hard to think about anything else.

In my mother tongue (Slovak), there is a phrase for such an experience, literally translated as "planting a worm in someone's head".

Is there any such phrase/idiom in English?

Planting an idea is a very close substitute, but it communicates a (usually malicious) intent in doing so.

Maros Urbanec
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    I keep thinking of earworm, but that's for a song that you can't get out of your head. I'm pretty sure there's something similar for an idea. – Barmar Feb 13 '17 at 21:13
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    We do say "you put a bug in my head" and now I am obsessed. – Yosef Baskin Feb 13 '17 at 21:23
  • As others have noted, English does have the idiom "plant an earworm (in someone's head), but it almost always refers to music. For example, I can plant an earworm by humming a few notes, or simply asking you, straight up, who said that every wish, would be heard and answered, if wished on the morning star? – cobaltduck Feb 13 '17 at 21:44
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    And of course, in the movie Inception, the protagonists pretty literally do this. – Paul Brinkley Feb 13 '17 at 22:26
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    looks pretty close to a duplicate of this one: http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/186670/is-there-a-word-or-phrase-meaning-to-plant-my-idea-in-someone-else-s-mind ALSO I would suggest PLANT an Idea in someone's mind. For what it's worth.. I'm not familiar with the "earworm" people are speaking about.. I live in CA – Tom22 Feb 13 '17 at 23:11
  • I agree that an "earworm" is usually a tune. I think the English equivalent to the OP's original Slovak phrase "planting a worm in someone's head" would be "planting the seed of an idea in someone's head". – JonLarby Feb 14 '17 at 16:04
  • plant an idea or Inception are indeed very close to the meaning of the Slovak phrase. They do, however, imply an intention of doing so, whereas for the original phrase it's an unintentional side-effect. Will update the text of the question. – Maros Urbanec Feb 15 '17 at 08:23

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idée fixe "refers to an idea that dominates one's mind especially for a prolonged period"

According to The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, the term "idée fixe" was coined by French composer Hector Berlioz in 1830, who used it to describe the principal theme of his Symphonie fantastique. That reference goes on to say that, at about the same time, French novelist Honore de Balzac used "idée fixe" in Gobseck to describe an obsessive idea. By 1836, Balzac's more generalized use of the term had carried over into English, where "idée fixe" was embraced as a clinical and literary term for a persistent preoccupation or delusional idea that dominates a person's mind. Nowadays "idée fixe" is also applied to milder and more pedestrian obsessions. - from Merriam-Webster

Centaurus
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Such an idea is sometimes called food for thought.

freedictionary.org:

[Wordnet 3.0]
food for thought NOUN

  1. anything that provides mental stimulus for thinking
alwayslearning
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  • +1 "food for thought" is the phrase I would use in a day to day conversation, even though it doesn't convey the exact same meaning. On the other hand, it is virtually guaranteed to be understood. – Maros Urbanec Feb 15 '17 at 08:16