two cents from orangebutton, a weblog by George Girton

two cents . . . . . jul 31 2003 — ob56.dat

We have been asked to explain the motto "a penny here, a penny there ... pretty soon you're talking two cents". Aside from its artistic meaning, there are only two aspects to this canny apothegm: the two pennies, and what they add up to: the true worth of an opinion.

The general structure of the motto owes not a little to the famous utterance of the late U.S. Senator Everett Dirksen (Republican, Illinois) "A billion here a billion there, pretty soon you're talking real money."

Well, at least he is alleged to have said it. Careful researchers at the Dirksen Congressional Center looked into the matter and aside from the fact that many people claim to have heard Dirksen make the remark throughout his political career, they can't find any definitive evidence that he said it. They end up lamenting the fact that Dirksen's career came before the Age of Television; it's interesting that they think a televised speech would have provided better proof than eyewitness accounts.

Thanks to F. Tschernitz and the Mitsubishi club of Kaernten (Austria) for the question. And that's "mein zwei Euro Cents"

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