Wednesday, May 12, 2004
Tuesday, May 11, 2004
Saturday, May 08, 2004
Englisht Usage: FAQ excerpt: "put in one's two cents' worth"
AUE: FAQ excerpt: "put in one's two cents' worth": "'put in one's two cents' worth'
by Mark Israel
[This is a fast-access FAQ excerpt.]
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."
by Mark Israel
[This is a fast-access FAQ excerpt.]
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."
