A Penny For Your Thoughts?

United States
March 16, 2008 2:30pm CST
My husband and I were sitting down to lunch when we started discussing a bunch of irrelevant topics just for fun. We came across the saying "A penny for your thoughts" and "My two cents." I don't know if anyone else has wondered about these sayings but I have! It made me wonder if putting "my two cents in" means it's because we often have a tendency to say more than what was asked of us. Does anyone know where these sayings originated? Why do you think it's a penny for your thoughts but putting my two cents in?
2 people like this
2 responses
suspenseful
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
17 Mar 08
I have no idea. I guess it has to do with that the person is doing some rather heavy thinking and it comes back to a time when the penny was worth something. I would assume now they could substitute a million dollar bill. As for my two cents in, I would guess it refers to that my opinion really does not matter, and if you know what two cents bought, you could understand why. I have no idea when the saying started, but here is one link to help you learn a bit more about it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_two_cents_(idiom)
metal_monkee
@metal_monkee (930)
• Philippines
17 Mar 08
The saying "a Penny for your thoughts" is from the time when the British penny had of great value. It is used when you are asking a quiet person to contribute his/her opinion. the "my two cents in" is similar to a penny for your thoughts it came from the time when the cost of postage stamp was only 2 cents. hence when asking a person for his opinion you would give him 2 cents."(for the postage stamp fee)