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| Thread ID: 48295 | 2004-08-19 03:02:00 | OT: My two cents | mister harbies (5607) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 263171 | 2004-08-19 04:26:00 | Lifted from somewhere.... [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. |
Scouse (83) | ||
| 263172 | 2004-08-19 04:36:00 | Yeah,I'm big on modesty myself. Especially when i'm being amazingly opinionated, |
metla (154) | ||
| 263173 | 2004-08-19 04:41:00 | There was this guy who made a living off the net by collecting all the two cents. It's not illegal but he's driving a Mercedes now. | nzStan (440) | ||
| 263174 | 2004-08-19 04:49:00 | NZStan, Can you explain how this guy made a living collecting "two cents" and ended up driving a Mercedes. It looks too god to be true Mister Harbies |
mister harbies (5607) | ||
| 263175 | 2004-08-19 04:51:00 | After reading this thread I'm waiting for my $0.01 change ;) | |llus|oN (645) | ||
| 263176 | 2004-08-19 04:51:00 | > NZStan, > > Can you explain how this guy made a living collecting > "two cents" and ended up driving a Mercedes. > > It looks too god to be true > > > Mister Harbies I was just doing a metla ;) |
nzStan (440) | ||
| 263177 | 2004-08-19 04:59:00 | Great therad, thanks for the info Scouse, IMHO this can be abbreviated to TMFC That's My 5c |
andrew93 (249) | ||
| 263178 | 2004-08-19 05:00:00 | D'Oh!. "therad" - just another way of saying thread in this part of the country... :D |
andrew93 (249) | ||
| 263179 | 2004-08-19 05:14:00 | > I was just doing a metla ;) And immediatly hit one of the pitfalls. :D |
metla (154) | ||
| 263180 | 2004-08-19 08:58:00 | > > I was just doing a metla ;) > > > And immediatly hit one of the pratfalls. :D :^O Sorry couldn't help it My 2c worth Cheers Murray ;P |
Murray P (44) | ||
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