Talk:My two cents

Misspellings
I've seen "two cents" misspelled as "two sense" a lot. Should this be included in the article? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 199.111.242.64 (talk) February 1, 2006

I think that is simply a mistake, similar to people who mean to say "would have" spelling "would      of". 216.203.59.252 19:28, 9 February 2006 (UTC)

I've seen explanation of the two cents being orignated from the 2-cent postage during the late 19th and early 20th century. See http://alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxputino.html — Preceding unsigned comment added by Oringo (talk • contribs) June 8, 2006

There is a Bible passage (Mark 12:42-47) where a poor woman gives "two cents" as an offering (or the equivalent money at that time/place). Other people gave much more, but she is praised by Jesus because she gave all the money she had, and it was a bigger sacrifice. The point being that how much you give is not important, but what it means to you. Many sayings come from the Bible and I suspect this might be one. Especially now that I have read the article again, I am more convinced this could be the origin. Malnova 01:19, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

I'm inclined to agree with Malnova (and in reference to Luke 21:1-4), but would like to read more of how this expression might historically trace back to the biblical reference. 65.204.148.154 (talk) 17:58, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Meaning
Having heard 2 cents, i just thought it was your sort of slang shortening of sentences. Simply south 23:55, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

First time I have seen this phrase, I though that the poster's ISP charges the messages, and it is the actual cost. However, it seems that the phrase is much older than Internet. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.65.65.67 (talk) 15:45, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

I did some research a while ago
My finding was that since the term was invented to 2007, due to inflation, your 2 cents is now worth 44 cents. Any way to include inflation in this article, without inciting the wrath of "No Original Research"? CompuHacker (talk) 21:37, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

Two Cents
Could this reference have Biblical origins? Mark 12:38-44 The widow is said to put in the equivalent of 2 Cents and may have done so hurredly as if embarrased about how little she had to offer. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.113.24.1 (talk) 15:06, 26 May 2009 (UTC)

Two Cent Yellow Journalism Newspapers
Starting in the late 1800s a number of people began to produce two cent newspapers with the cheaper paper that became available. Joseph Pulitzer is probably the most famous one, but a bunch of imitators followed and there came to be the perception that any Tom, Dick, and Harry could create a two cent newspaper full of dubious/opinionated news. Here's wikipedia's own page on yellow journalism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_journalism) which maybe someone can use as a source. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 205.178.113.92 (talk) 05:47, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

Image
I would suggest changing the image to a modern coin. A 1909 penny is now worth ~ $1000

I agree. Why is there an image of a rare coin on a page that has nothing to do with coin collecting? Especially since the phrase means "something of little value" 12.108.32.194 (talk) 15:54, 19 March 2020 (UTC)


 * Just changed the image to two regular British pennies from 1937. They don't seem to be rare coins aside from their age, and I can't find any pictures of newer pennies for some reason, so... AdoTang (talk) 18:26, 31 May 2021 (UTC)

American or English origin
From the current page: "My two cents" ...is an American idiomatic expression, taken from the original English idiom "to put in my two penny worth" or "my two-cents.

So isn't it then just an international saying, originating in England? The dash does not make it a different statement. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bronzdragon (talk • contribs) 14:37, 12 April 2018 (UTC)