My 2 Cents - rant

[snag]

Are you sure any of you have any cents?

Sorry, couldn't resist.

 

Nada

[Kawartha Kev]

This makes no sense!!!!

[Carp]

I guess the "2 cents" phrase is getting on in age.

 

With inflation, I think opinions should be worth at least a dime.

 

So,...."That's my dime!"

[Roy]

Meaning: To state one's opinion.

Example: If I can put my two cents in, maintenance on that Ferrari will kill you.

Origin: "Put my two cents in" originates from the older "put my two bits in" and has its origin in the game of poker. When playing poker you have to make a small bet before the cards are dealt called an "ante" to begin play in that hand.

 

This phrase draws an analogy to the poker ante (two bits) and gains your entry into the conversation.

 

Thanks to Evelyn and Dawn Rambin and Ron Akers

 

Two bits means one quarter (currently the American twenty five cent piece). This comes from the older term "piece of eight".

 

Today we have coins minted in different denominations - nickel, dime, and quarter in the U.S. - but this was not always so. Gold and silver coins once served as currency, with the value of the coin equal to the value of the gold or silver contained in the coin. To obtain currency valued at less than a full gold coin, coins would be scored and split into pieces. This is how one would make change so to speak.

 

Coins could be split into halfs, quarters, and eighths. One eighth of a coin was called a "piece of eight" and also called a "bit". Two pieces of eight is equal to one quarter. Hence "two bits" is a quarter.

 

Thanks to William M. Gatesman and Michael Welzien

 

Hence "Smashed to bits" literally means to break something into eighths.

 

 

 

So, who cares?

[SlowPoke]

Meaning: To state one's opinion.

Example: If I can put my two cents in, maintenance on that Ferrari will kill you.

Origin: "Put my two cents in" originates from the older "put my two bits in" and has its origin in the game of poker. When playing poker you have to make a small bet before the cards are dealt called an "ante" to begin play in that hand.

 

This phrase draws an analogy to the poker ante (two bits) and gains your entry into the conversation.

 

Thanks to Evelyn and Dawn Rambin and Ron Akers

 

Two bits means one quarter (currently the American twenty five cent piece). This comes from the older term "piece of eight".

 

Today we have coins minted in different denominations - nickel, dime, and quarter in the U.S. - but this was not always so. Gold and silver coins once served as currency, with the value of the coin equal to the value of the gold or silver contained in the coin. To obtain currency valued at less than a full gold coin, coins would be scored and split into pieces. This is how one would make change so to speak.

 

Coins could be split into halfs, quarters, and eighths. One eighth of a coin was called a "piece of eight" and also called a "bit". Two pieces of eight is equal to one quarter. Hence "two bits" is a quarter.

 

Thanks to William M. Gatesman and Michael Welzien

 

Hence "Smashed to bits" literally means to break something into eighths.

So, who cares?

 

So, according to your etymology....

Your two cents is only worth a fraction of my two-bit opinion.

Which brings me to my next point - opinions are like asses... they all stink.

-Brian

[Roy]

I guess I'll have to ask you cause I wouldn't know what those things smell like.

[Carp]

Play nice boys.

 

.....but that was a nice comeback Roy.

[SlowPoke]

Play nice boys.

 

.....but that was a nice comeback Roy.

Ooops, didn't mean to be a personal shot at Roy but at opinions in general.

 

I don't think Roy took it too personaly... he would have deleted it.

Okay, now that was a shot at Roy

[Roy]

Hey Slowpoke....you're a nice guy.