my two cents origin

[Sanjeev Sayeeraman]

does anyone know th origin of the phrase "my two cents"

[Steffen Buehler]

Sanjeev Sayeeraman wrote:
>does anyone know th origin of the phrase "my two cents"

Yes. The FAQ www.alt-usage-english.org/faq.shtml says:

| "put in one's two cents' worth"
| This expression meaning "to contribute one's opinion" dates from
| the late nineteenth century. Bo Bradham suggested that it came from
| "the days of $.02 postage. To 'put one's two cents' worth in'
| referred to the cost of a letter to the editor, the president, or
| whomever was deserving". According to the Encyclopaedia
| Britannica, the first-class postal rate was 2 cents an ounce between
| 1883 and 1932 (with the exception of a brief period during World War
| I). This OED citation confirms that two-cent stamps were once
| common: "1902 ELIZ. L. BANKS Newspaper Girl xiv, Dinah got a letter
| through the American mail. She had fivepence to pay on it, because
| only a common two-cent stamp had been stuck on it." On the other
| hand, "two-cent" was an American expression for "of little value"
| (similar to British "twopenny-halfpenny"), so the phrase may simply
| have indicated the writer's modesty about the value of his
| contribution.

Best regards,
Steffen

[J Cheung]

Sanjeev Sayeeraman wrote
> does anyone know th origin of the phrase "my two cents"

I'm afraid I don't know. Just my two cents.