My 2 Cent

[Luis Rodrigues]

Hello!

I would like to know, what the meaning is of the phrase "My 2 cent".
Can some explain it? Where does it come from?

Thanks

Luis Rodrigues

[Odysseus]

Luis Rodrigues wrote:
>
> I would like to know, what the meaning is of the phrase "My 2 cent".
> Can some explain it? Where does it come from?
>

Saying that a comment you make -- or that a piece of advice you give
-- is your "two cents' worth" is showing humility, suggesting that
others may find what you say of little value. It may also imply that
you haven't given the matter much thought, or that what you say is
just an unsupported opinion.

I'm just speculating, but it's possible that the phrase is related to
the saying "He doesn't have two cents to rub together" as a
description of a destitute person. While two cents is a very small
amount of money, it's still just more than the smallest possible amount.

--Odysseus

[Robert Lieblich]

Odysseus wrote:
>
> Luis Rodrigues wrote:
> >
> > I would like to know, what the meaning is of the phrase "My 2 cent".
> > Can some explain it? Where does it come from?
> >
> Saying that a comment you make -- or that a piece of advice you give
> -- is your "two cents' worth" is showing humility, suggesting that
> others may find what you say of little value. It may also imply that
> you haven't given the matter much thought, or that what you say is
> just an unsupported opinion.

The saying is now frequently shortened to "My two cents." In my
experience it almost always occurs with the first person pronoun.
When using another grammatical person, the speaker is likely to
retain "worth," as in "his two cents' worth." Not sure why that
should be so, if indeed it is. Note that "cents" is plural.

>
> I'm just speculating, but it's possible that the phrase is related to
> the saying "He doesn't have two cents to rub together" as a
> description of a destitute person. While two cents is a very small
> amount of money, it's still just more than the smallest possible amount.

I think that's "two pennies to rub together." "Cent" is the value,
but "penny" is the name of the coin. No, I think "my two cents" is
just an shortening of the original phrase "my two cents' worth."

--
Bob Lieblich
My two cents' worth

[Beagle]

The British word twopence or tuppence as in such phrases as: not worth
tuppence or give a tuppenceworth seem to date back to about 1641 and I
presume (being Brit) the US modified it when dollars and cents were
established.

"Luis Rodrigues" <murilhas....@rocketmail.com> wrote in message
news:7fc16105.02111...@posting.google.com...

[Howard G Walker]

Odysseus wrote:

There was a two cent coin introduced to U S coinage in 1862 (First coin with
"In God We Trust"). If it proved to be unpopular or to be "not worth a
Continental," that could be the origin of the phrase.

[Kurt Kurosawa]

Hereabouts (southern coastal Virginia) the "s" is frequently dropped from
"cents."

[Mark Wallace]

wb wrote:
> On Sun, 17 Nov 2002 18:21:56 -0500, Robert Lieblich
> <Robert....@Verizon.net> wrote:
>
>
> <snip>

>> just an shortening of the original phrase "my two cents' worth."

> <snip>
>
> Sorry for jumping in, but should not this be "just *a* shortening
> of the..."?

Indeed it should. Robbie's not alone in doing things like that; I
do it all the time: I'll change my wording, then forget to check
things like articles, to see if they're suitable to the new task.

> Just a non-native English speaker's two cents :-)

Whatever happened to "two penn'orth"?

--
Mark Wallace
-----------------------------------------------------
For the intelligent approach to nasty humour, visit:
The Anglo-American Humour (humor) Site
http://humorpages.virtualave.net/mainmenu.htm
-----------------------------------------------------

[Dr Robin Bignall]

On Mon, 18 Nov 2002 15:51:53 +0100, "Mark Wallace" <mwal...@dse.nl> wrote:

>wb wrote:
>> On Sun, 17 Nov 2002 18:21:56 -0500, Robert Lieblich
>> <Robert....@Verizon.net> wrote:
>>
>>
>> <snip>
>>> just an shortening of the original phrase "my two cents' worth."
>> <snip>
>>
>> Sorry for jumping in, but should not this be "just *a* shortening
>> of the..."?
>
>Indeed it should. Robbie's not alone in doing things like that; I
>do it all the time: I'll change my wording, then forget to check
>things like articles, to see if they're suitable to the new task.
>
>
>> Just a non-native English speaker's two cents :-)
>
>Whatever happened to "two penn'orth"?

Nothing, but you'd need a microscope to see two penn'orth of anything these
days...

--

wrmst rgrds
Robin Bignall

[Mark Wallace]

All too true.
And a magnifying glass for a fiver's worth.