just my two cents
Who taught: Mark, Shawn, Christian, Pete
When : in conference calls or meetings
As working as an applications engineer, having many conference calls or meetings is part of my daily life. There are a few expressions I have heard or used in the calls or meetings.
1. just my two cents
The other day, Mark came to my desk to let me know one expression he just heard from his conf call. “T-Bone, do you know what does my two cents mean?” Well, I had no idea. My first interpretation was ….”something cheap I have… like my speaker??” But, it means like “just my opinion.” Especially, if anyone want to throw his/her opinion very tentatively, he/she can use the expression.
“I think we should have happy hour every month in the company! But, it is just my two cents!”
I am curious about the origin. Is it originated from gamling? What if I use like “I am just putting my cent in” or “It is just my one cent!” Is it weird?
2. on the same page
This expression is the one I used a few times. I think this one would be something you can easily catch the meaning. You and your customers have the same understanding so that there is no confusion or conflict about anything discussed in the meeting. Usually, I use this expression when there is kind of unclear requirement item from customer and try to ask a question to them to make it clear. “To make sure we are on the same page…. does this item mean blah blah blah….??”
3. ring a bell
Today, Christian and Pete had a meeting and in the middle of the meeting, they used this expression. Since Pete sits very close to my desk, they talked to me. “Terry! We have an expression for your blog. It is ‘ring a bell’.” Even I knew this one already, I have never used this one before. This is the same as “can you remember it now?” Most often usage of this expression is like “Does it ring a bell with you?” Writing this post, I looked up the Internet and I saw there is a big discussion about the preposition (with or for). So can I also say, “Does it ring a bell for you?” What is your thought on this?
Do you have your favorite expressions you use a lot in calls or meetings? Oh, I remember Stacy use “at the end of the day” a lot. I will let somebody add comment about the expression.
By the way, I have today’s acronym for you. BFD!!! It is a short for “Big F..king Deal!” Yesterday, President Obama signed the new healthcare reform bill. After that, Vice President Biden was so excited that he whispered to the President, “This is a big f..king deal!” It is caught by some media and becomes a real BFD on the Internet. I guess Biden made himself BFD. This might be their political strategy to distract the public attention to the new bill. Smart Butt!! 😉 I do not want to use the ‘Ass’ one here.
The other place that I know of that uses 2 cents is a story from the Bible about a poor widow who gave all that she had to the temple – it was just 2 small coins, but Jesus said that she gave a better gift than the rich man who gave much more money, but it meant less to him.
*shrugs*
Maybe, that is the origin of the expression.
I was going to mention that Stacy always says, “at the end of the day”! This is a fairly common expression, but she uses it much more frequently than the average person 😉 It’s very similar to Jerome’s expression, “and in the end”, but that’s just a Jerome-ism and is not common in America.
I remember at my former job, there was this guy who used all of these esoteric expressions (even moreso than me!) and the one I always remember was, “let’s put the cookies on the bottom shelf”, which is very similar to “let’s put everything on the table”.
That reminds me of another one – “the elephant in the room”. If there was a problem that everyone was avoiding, you might say, “don’t beat around the bush” … let’s address “the elephant in the room.” Ooh! One more good one: “If a bear shits in the woods, no big deal. But if he shits in your living room, you’re going to have to deal with it.” Oddly, I couldn’t find a reference for that one ….
Wait! TMI!
Let me summarize here!
1. at the end of the day = in the end
2. let’s put the cookies on the bottom shelf = let’s put everything on the table
3. Let’s address the elephant in the room.
The other one is too hard. I will pass it. Andrew, I need more context on the last one.
“Smart Butt!! 😉 I do not want to use the ‘Ass’ one here.”
That’s the funniest thing I’ve seen all day.
Haha, I cannot be real free-style here.
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