英语口语练习：my two cents

my two cents

Two cents，字面意思是：两美分，其所传递出的意思是：

“我的意见价值不大，也就值2美分，是否听取完全由你决定”。

中文里可以考虑将my two cents翻译为：我的个人浅见。

它完整的短语是：put one’s two cents in (=put in one’s two cents worth)

用作动词的意思：主动提出建议或忠告(尤指在未经邀请或无人征询的情况下提出)

例

e.g.If l may put my two cents in,l think we should shut up.

如果不嫌我多嘴/(如果我可以提建议的话)，我看我们都该缄口不言。

e.g.You’d better not put in your two cents worth no matter who you are.

不管你是谁，你还是不发表意见为好。

典故

The earliest reference to an analogy of "two cents" appears in the lesson of the widow's mite in both the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of Luke.

最早的类似于“两美分”的提法出现在《马可福音》和《路加福音》关于寡妇的故事里。

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.

在圣经故事中，几位富有的信徒捐给寺庙一大笔钱，然而，一个非常贫困的寡妇只投了两枚硬币，也就是她的两美分。

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.

最后，相比于那些富有的信徒，寡妇却更受耶稣庇佑。因为，寡妇将所有积蓄都捐给了耶路撒冷的神殿，而那些富裕的人，比起捐出的钱，留给自己的却更多。

Some believe that the phrase originates in betting card games, such as poker.

有人认为，这个习语源于如扑克等纸牌游戏。

In these games, one must make a small bet, or ante, before beginning play.

在这些游戏中，玩家在开始游戏前必须先下一个小赌注。

Thus, the phrase makes an analogy between entering the game and entering a conversation.

因此，这个短语就是类比开始游戏和对话。

However, there is no documentary evidence of this being the origin of the idiom, so it is merely speculation.

然而，没有文献证明其为该习语的来源，一切都仅是猜测。

Other likely origins are that "my two pennies worth" is derived from the much older 16th-century English expression, "a penny for your thoughts", possibly a sarcastic response to receiving more opinion than was wanted "I said a penny for your thoughts, but I got two pennies' worth".

此外，还有另一种可能，“我的两便士价值”源于16世纪英国一个更为古老的表达“你的想法只值一分钱”，这可能是对接受过多意见的一个讽刺回应，即“我认为你的想法只值一分钱，但是我的值两分钱。”

There is also some belief that the idiom may have its origins in the early cost of postage in England, the "two penny post", where two pennies was the normal charge of sending a letter containing one's words and thoughts or feelings to someone.

还有一种说法认为，这个习语可能与英国早期的邮费有关，即“两便士邮费”。在英国，将一封包含自己文字、思想或感情的信件寄给某人，通常要收取两便士。

类似的表达意见的词汇

表达个人意见

I guess this is the only option we can choose.

我想这是我们唯一可以选择的方案。

I suppose our revenue will double after launching this event.

我估计在举办这个活动后估，我们的收入将会增加一倍。

I believe there is another way to tackle the problem.

我相信还有其他方法解决问题。

注意：(肯定) believe >> suppose >> guess (不肯定、猜测)

直接表达不同意/不喜歡

Frankly speaking/To be frank, your proposal is not feasible.

说实话，(我觉得)你的计划书并不可行。

Honestly/To be honest, I don’t like strawberry flavour ice cream.

老实说，我不喜欢草莓味的雪糕。

从自己角度出发

In my opinion, increasing punishment cannot relieve the problem. 我认为加重罚款并不可以减轻问题。

It seems to me that your idea may be too fancy.

对我而言，你的想法有点太不切实际。

From my perspective, family is the most precious asset in our life. 在我的角度来看，家庭是我们人生中最珍贵的财产。

Personally, I would rather donate money to animal society.

以我个人以言，我宁愿捐钱给动物机构。

This actor, to my way of thinking, is overrated.

我认为这名演员太被高估了。

As I see it, we should prioritize this task, otherwise, we may not finish it by the deadline.

我认为我们应该优先处理这项工作，否则我们可能无法在限期之前完成。