I've seen the expression 望むところだ twice in manga (both times spoken by a very rough speaking male character). The context of the situations (the character who spoke was just threatened or warned in both cases) leads me to believe that its meaning is similar to "Do as you will" or maybe "I can take whatever you can dish out".
Could someone please explain the grammar behind that expression? I have 3 specific questions:
1. Who is the understood subject of 望む?
Basically, I'm wondering if the speaker is the subject or the listener. Is the speaker talking about what he desires or what the person he's talking to desires?
2. What function does ところ serve?
I know that ところ has a wide variety of different meanings that relate to time and place. Usually, when ところ follows a verb, it means that the action is just about to begin. That does not seem to fit here though. "I am just about to want that" doesn't really make sense to me.
3. Do my translations convey the appropriate intention?
Answer
望むところだ is basically "That's what I want". It can be 望むところだわ, 望むところです, 望むところじゃ and so on depending on the character.
- The subject of 望む is the speaker.
- This ところ can be understood as "situation" or "thing" depending on the context.
- This phrase has become a set phrase which is used to respond to someone's provocation. You may not need a literal translation, and a literal translation may not work, either (see the example below). Your translation seems okay to me even though it's not a literal one.
望むところ
１ そうなってほしいと思うこと。ひそかに期待していること。「世界の平和は誰もが望む所であろう」
２ 転じて、相手の挑戦・挑発などに対して応じるときに発する語。「『かかってこい』『望む所だ』」
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