for what it's worth

English

Etymology

The phrase may have originally been used to qualify a statement of advice, opinion, or suggestion by referring to such a statement and describing it separately from making it.

Prepositional phrase

for what it's worth

1. Considering what limited worth this advice, opinion, or suggestion might have for you; used to soften the presentation of unsolicited advice or information that may not be relevant.
   • 1877, Julian Hawthorne, Garth, page 343:

     Take my advice for what it’s worth—don’t marry Garth: marry some old fool.

   • 1908, Armand Both, The Half-smart Set, Frederick A. Stokes Company, page 276:

     “Well,” said he, “I have a suggestion to make, for what it’s worth.”

   • 1999, Bruce Northam, Brad Olsen, In Search of Adventure: A Wild Travel Anthology, →ISBN, page 21:

     There were seven of us from America, and, for what it’s worth, I thought it was a fairly impressive group.

   • 2005, Jennifer Rosen, Waiter, There’s A Horse In My Wine, →ISBN, page 253:

     For what it’s worth, the same holds true for fish bowls: overfill and you’ll suffocate the guppies.

Usage notes

"For what it's worth" can be used to emphasize humility by prompting the reader/listener to provide their judgment of worth against the statement being made; i.e., it may be useful information, it may not be, or perhaps differs from that the recipient's opinion.

Synonyms

• FWIW

Related terms

• two cents' worth

Translations

considering what limited worth this advice may have

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 聽不聽由自己決定／听不听由自己决定 (tīng bù tīng yóu zìjǐ juédìng) (no equivalent exists: lit., "it's up to you whether you take this advice")

• Finnish: mitä arvoa tällä onkaan
• French: pour ce que cela vaut, pour ce que ça vaut
• German: übrigens (de), nur nebenbei bemerkt, falls es Sie interessiert (the former are common, but do not express the humble tone of the English phrase); ich möchte mich nicht aufdrängen, aber..., Sie haben mich nicht nach meinem Rat gefragt, aber..., es mag keine weitere Bewandtnis haben, aber... (these are less common, but do express humility)
• Hungarian: egyébként (hu), ha netán ez segít (valamelyest), nem tudom, segít-e bármit is, (már) ha ez jelent/számít valamit
• Italian: valga quel che valga, varrà quel che varrà, valga quel che può valere
• Lithuanian: jei ką
• Polish: żeby nie było
• Portuguese: valha o que valha, valha o que valer
• Russian: за что купил, за то и продаю (ru) (za što kupil, za to i prodaju), как бы там ни было n (kak by tam ni bylo)
• Spanish: por si sirve de algo

See also

• penny for your thoughts