Putting in your 2 cents - Wordsmith.org

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In many cases I can ascertain the root (or make a fair guess) of these common expressions.
"Cash on the BarrelHead" is obvious.
"Lock, stock and barrel" makes sense.

But, "adding my two cents" is a puzzle for me.
Anyone have some insight?

ATdhvaannkcse

I always assumed it was from penny-ante poker, i.e., low-stakes games of chance. Googling.

I'd guess it implies modestly that one's comment simply isn't very valuable

(can't have " " in your urls, z.)

Ah, yes, I forgot. I'll take care of it. Thanks.

I was thinking the other day about the expression, "drop a dime on him"; meaning to make a phone call at a payphone to report someone to authorities.
Since payphones are almost extinct and they no longer cost only a dime the origin of this phrase is lost in antiquity.
How many others can you name?
I will begin the list with these:
In the groove
Dial the phone
Give me a ring (few phones ring anymore; most no longer have bells)

when i was a child, if i look particularly unkempt, my mother would say "you look like the wreck of the Hesperas". Who what the hesparas was, i had no idea, but i clearly got the idea it wasn't good to look like it.

when i married, and when on honeymoon (a grand european tour) stop 1 was London (2 weeks!)
and in the Tate, i found Turner. Painting after painting of the Hesperas, a fire, in the fog, a blacken hull--and each painting was more impressive, and more beautiful than the next. I fell in love.

Now, my mother's harsh words have been transformed.. Image, me, non-discript me, I look like the wreck of the hesperas! me! i could be turner painting.. Oh joy!

but now days, no ever looks like the wreck of the hesparas, or has a room that looks like a den of iniquity, and nothing is so horrible that is "like the black hole of calcutta" (well at least no one i know ever uses these phrases!)
they had a long run, and while not common, they live on (at least in my memory!)

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and in the Tate, i found Turner. Painting after painting of the Hesperas, a fire, in the fog, a blacken hull

Your mother was more likely referring to Longfellow's poem "The Wreck of the Hesperus".

While JMW Turner did paint lots of ships (including "The shipwreck of the Minotaur"), I don't think there's one specifically of the Hesperus.

Born in ireland, of a working class family, with only a 3rd grade education, i doubt she was family with Longfellow.

'Top Dollar'
This is one that, I feel certain, has strayed far from its origin.
I have only a guess that relates to the practice of keeping a stack of folded bills in a money clip.
It was customary to put the larger (better) bills on the inside so as not to reveal your true wealth. Most transactions required simply 'peeling' a bill(s) off the folded stack.
If your purchase was more substantial you would need to:
a. unfold the wad
b. remove some of the bills on the top of the stack

The TOP DOLLARS, eh?

What thinkest thee?

Quote:

'Top Dollar'
This is one that, I feel certain, has strayed far from its origin.
I have only a guess that relates to the practice of keeping a stack of folded bills in a money clip.
It was customary to put the larger (better) bills on the inside so as not to reveal your true wealth. Most transactions required simply 'peeling' a bill(s) off the folded stack.
If your purchase was more substantial you would need to:
a. unfold the wad
b. remove some of the bills on the top of the stack

The TOP DOLLARS, eh?

What thinkest thee [sic]?

Seems like it would be inside dollar. I'd say it was more just top meaning highest and dollar just meaning money.

What thinkest thou?

Quote:

I have only a guess that relates to the practice of keeping a stack of folded bills in a money clip.
It was customary to put the larger (better) bills on the inside so as not to reveal your true wealth

That might be true for rich skinflints. Poor richman-wannabes would put the largest bill they can on top and fill the rest with small bills in hopes that people will think they are more affluent than they really are. That would give a more logical meaning to "top dollar" as well. Ever hear of a "Michigan Bankroll"? It's a thick wad of nothing but ones. Tourism is big business in Michigan and if you work in the service industry, you are usually in possesion of a Michigan Bankroll, for a little bit anyway, until you get your bills paid...

I thought top dollar was taken from stock market trade.

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I always assumed it was from penny-ante poker, i.e., low-stakes games of chance.

Wikipedia agrees with you. Here's their two cents.

And then there's "bottom dollar." I'd bet my bottom dollar it means "last," not the opposite of "top" (wherever that comes from!).