私の人格もよく知らずにガンガン言う人は、ろくなもんじゃないと思って。

Question

Been a while since I've dabbled in Japanese so I'm a little rusty, maybe somebody can help me out here with my question.

Quote in question:

でもね。結局のところ、自分は自分、人は人。私の人格もよく知らずにガンガン言う人は、ろくなもんじゃないと思って。「はい」とは言いながらも、気にしない。私は私よ、勝手に言ってれば？って。Source

The way I interpret this quote is as follows:

But, you know. In the end, I am myself and you are you (alternatively: everybody is their own person). I think those people who say things about me without actually knowing me aren't good people. Even if I say "yes", I really don't care. I am myself, you just keep saying whatever you want.

What I'm unsure about here is the bolded part; does 「ろくなもんじゃない」 refer to the people Tetsuko actively chooses to condemn here and is 「と思って」 an action done by her as well? Why does she end the sentence with 「思って」 and not 「思う」 anyway? Is it a casual speech thing? Also if anybody has a nice translation for 「ガンガン」 here as well, it'd be much appreciated.

Thanks a lot in advance for your help!

Answer 1

でもね。結局{けっきょく}のところ、自分{じぶん}は自分、人は人。私{わたし}の人格{じんかく}もよく知{し}らずにガンガン言う人は、ろくなもんじゃないと思って。「はい」とは言いながらも、気{き}にしない。私は私よ、勝手{かって}に言ってれば？って。

First of all, this is a transcription of spoken language; therefore, it will contain all kinds of contractions, colloquial usages, etc.

Your translation looks fairly good.

Does 「ろくなもんじゃない」 refer to the people Tetsuko actively chooses to condemn here?

Yes, precisely. She is discarding them rather flatly here. The phrase does have that strong nuance.

is 「と思って」 an action done by her as well? Why does she end the sentence with 「思って」 and not 「思う」 anyway? Is it a casual speech thing?

「思って」 is Tetsuko's own action as 「ろくなもんじゃない」 is her own opinion of the men who she is discarding here.

In informal speech, it is quite common to end sentences with the te-form of a verb. It helps soften the speaker's tone of voice, so to speak (compared to the "full" verb forms such as 「思う」、「思った」、「思っている」, etc.).

She could have even ended that sentence with 「ろくなもんじゃないって」 without using the verb 「思う」 at all. In fact, she uses that って-ending in the last sentence.

Also if anybody has a nice translation for 「ガンガン」 here

"Endlessly", "extensively". "profusely", etc.