Where did the phrase put your "two cents" in or I'll put my "two cents" in?

Answer 1

Erin is correct about the 'root' expression. But why did they say that? And why is it used when offering one's opinion?

What follows is an exploration of the background, related expressions, the possible reason the phrase is used to refer to someone's offering their OPINION, and why OTHER explanations (esp. the "poker wager" one) don't work.

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First, note that a key part of the evidence for the American idiom's being based on the British, and not the other way round, is the use of "WORTH" at the end, which American English cannot explain on its own.

The British form was "give my two penny worth" and the like, which gave rise to a number of variations.

The key to the expression is to recognize the variety of uses of "pennyworth" and especially of "two pennyworth" (and derived forms like "tuppence"...)

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On "pennyworth", as Bartleby mainly notes (under "pennyworth, pen'oth") it is also used to refer to:

"A SMALL quantity, as much as can be bought for a penny. Butler says, "This was the pen'oth of his thought" (Hudibras, ii. 3), meaning that its scope or amount was EXTREMELY SMALL."
http://www.bartleby.com/81/13011.html

(Incidentally, this particular citation seems to suggest a link to a penny for your THOUGHTS... which makes sense... since 'my two...' concerns my thoughts/opinion on a matter. Note that this expression is used by the 16th century
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mpennythoughts.html
http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/24/messages/454.html )

The emphasis on the smallness, even insignificance of the amount is even MORE pronounced in idioms used "TWO penny"/"tuppence", "two pennyworth", etc.

For example:
"I couldn't give tuppence what you think" = "I couldn't care less what you think."
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=201223

Other examples of twopence/'tuppence' or 'two penny' (/tupnee/) as a small, insignificant amount, not of much value, from OED
- 16th century Scottish derisive reference to an inexpensive Catholic catechism as "Two penny Faith"
- "a wretched twopence of a woman"
1762 - "Tis not two-pence matter"

We see the same in the American use of "two cents" for "something of insignificant value; a paltry amount: We wouldn't give two cents for their chances of success."
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/two%20cents%20worth

A related British English expression is the disparaging nickname "twopenny halfpenny" (Gilbert and Sullivan fans will recognize this in the slightly modified, Germanized name of the duchy in "The Grand Duke [of Pfennig-Halbpfennig]")

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"Two bits?"

This last form reminds us that variations on the idea should be expected. We see this in American uses of not just "two cents", but also two bit(s)" for a very small amount. Though the literal meaning of "two bits" for a quarter (based on the colonial use of Spanish coins, esp. "pieces of eight" [the equivalent of the thaler/dollar being cut into eight parts])**, the figurative uses of "two bit(s)" owe more to the various "two penny(worth)" type expressions.
**http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bit_%28money%29#United_States
http://www.gold-eagle.com/gold_digest_05/stott070705.html

Thus we end up with the following for "two bits" and "two bit"
"quarter," 1730, in ref. to the Mexican real, a large coin that was divided into eight bits (cf. piece of eight; see piece); hence two-bit (adj.) "cheap, tawdry," first recorded 1929.
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=two+bits&sourceid=Mozilla-search

"something of small worth or importance"
http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?sourceid=Mozilla-search&va=two+bits

"A petty sum"
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/dict.asp?Word=two+bits

"petty, insignificant, inferior or unimportant; small-time: a two-bit actor"
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=two+bit
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/two-bit

All this should lay to rest the popular explanation that "two cents worth" originates from a 'two BIT' (quarter) minimum wager in poker, which is undocumented anyway. Again --it's the other way round!
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/393950.html
(example of this supposed origin - http://members.aol.com/MorelandC/HaveOriginsData.htm )
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Use for offering an opinion?

So we have the BASIC meaning of 'twopenny (worth)' -- as something small, insignificant. But what about its use in the expression "Give/add my two pence [cents] worth" and the like referring to offering my tiny contribution, i.e., opinion, to a discussion?

We're not absolutely sure of when that began to be used --sometime in the mid to late 19th century it seems. (And, as suggested above, perhaps the old expression "penny for your thoughts" played a role/combined with the uses of "two pennyworth".)

It is POSSIBLE that there is something to the explanation offered in the AUE-FAQ, which connects it to the sending of a letter to the editor, and perhaps to the cost of a stamp -

"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 . . .
"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."
http://www.alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxputino.html

I'm not entirely clear about the American postage rates in this suggestion, but the idea might well fit in with the 19th century British "twopenny post" (ordinary charge for delivery of a letter).

But even if the postage rate played a part, I believe it is clear that the uses of twopenny/two cents to refer to how SMALL, even insignificant the offering is key.

Answer 2

This phrase originates from the familiar idiom "a penny for your thoughts" which has a definite beginning, in 1522.

The saying is from a time when the British penny had great value. Blame Sir Thomas More who wrote (in 'Four Last Things'): 'It often happeth, that the very face sheweth the mind walking a pilgrimage, in such wise that.other folk sodainly say to them a peny for your thought.'"

So you could just blame it on inflation. In my opinion, the cost of a stamp theory is pure coincidence, but I'm listing it here too, just to be ornery.

According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, the first-class postal rate was 2 cents an ounce between1883 and 1932 with the exception of a brief period. Two-cent stamps were once common. So one theory is that this expression meaning "to contribute one's opinion" dates from the late nineteenth century, and is based on the cost of mailing in one's opinion, or letter to the editor.

Just for the record, the British had the term tuppence, which referred to two pence (pennies) which just gave British writers an extra term to play around with.

Answer 3

Put Your Two Cents In

Answer 4

My two cents' worth' (or 'two bits' worth') implies that, in order to express and opinion, a small charge is levied. This could well be a simple notional charge and not related to any actual payment.

It has been suggested that 'two cents' was the minimum wager required of a new player in order to enter poker games. There's no documentary evidence to support that idea.

Answer 5

"My two cents" and its longer version "put my two cents in" is an American idiomatic expression, taken from the original British idiom expression: to put in " my two pennies worth" or " my tuppence worth".

So, basically the same as the way you would use it. Just a phrase to add floweriness to the argument/discussion.

Answer 6

I think it may come, originally, going way back, from the Gospel of Mark, 12:42, where in it says: . I say so because the Russians have the same expression "to put in ones pennies" to something, meaning to say something. And it (according to Russian wikipedia) derives from the Gospel of Mark.

Answer 7

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Where did the phrase put your "two cents" in or I'll put my "two cents" in?

Answer 8

Is it that serious?