<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (December 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (December 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> "My two cents" ("my 2 ¢") and its longer version "put my two cents in" is an American idiomatic expression, taken from the original English idiom "to put in my two penny worth" or "my two - cents ." It is used to preface the tentative statement of one's opinion . By deprecating the opinion to follow--suggesting its value is only two cents, a very small amount--the user of the phrase, showing politeness and humility, hopes to lessen the impact of a possibly contentious statement . However, it is also sometimes used ironically when expressing a strongly held opinion . The phrase is also sometimes used out of habit to preface uncontentious opinions . For example: "If I may put my two cents in, that hat doesn't do you any favors ." (A polite way of saying, for example: That hat is ugly). Another example would be: "My two cents is that you should sell your stock now ." </P> <P> The earliest reference to an analog of "two cents" appears in the lesson of the widow's mite in both the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of Luke . In the biblical episode, several wealthy temple patrons donate large sums of money, but an extremely poor widow places just two small coins, i.e. her two cents, into the offering . She finds greater favor with Jesus than do the wealthy patrons, seeing that the widow gave all of her money to the Temple in Jerusalem while the wealthy patrons made little investment, leaving much money for themselves . </P>

Where did my two cents phrase come from