249is allowed to have broad scope (which is facilitated by sentence- initial pos-
ition), and if the referentiality of it is weakened, then it is understood to
mean: ‘Nearly everyone had a grievance for whatever value having a grievance
might have OR for whatever value there is in my speaking of this.’ This is the
new parenthetical usage.
8.3.2.3 Semantic Development. At an early stage in its semantic
development for what it is worth undergoes a metaphorical change from ‘mon-
etary worth’ to ‘non- monetary worth’ and is used to comment on the non-
monetary worth of ideas, actions, etc. This rests on the IDEAS ARE MONEY
schema of Lakoff and Johnson (1980: 48).
In its change from content to procedural/ pragmatic meaning, for what it’s
worth increases in both subjectivity and intersubjectivity. Although it makes no
explicit reference to the subject (in contrast to If I may say so ), especially in its
expression of ‘below expectation’ meaning, we see a clear expression of sub-
jectivity, namely, the speaker’s view that the situation described falls below the
expected norm or place on the scale. For example, in a case such as (24a), the
speaker acknowledges that the friendship offered does not meet the expected
standards of friendship. As also, importantly, the speaker recognizes that this
friendship does not match the requirements of the hearer either. So we see that
there is intersubjectivity here as well. In other cases, such as (24b) in which for
what it is worth prefaces a potentially face- threatening opinion, the expression
serves to undercut the force of the opinion and thus mitigate the threat. This
is a case of intersubjectivity as well, as the speaker is clearly attending to the
needs of the hearer.
18000.0000400%
0.0000350%
0.0000300%
0.0000250%
0.0000200%
0.0000150%
0.0000100%
0.0000050%
0.0000000%
1820 1840 1860 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000
for what it’s worth for what it is worth
Figure 8.5 Google Ngram: Frequency of for what it is/ ’s worth over time
(Searched March 20, 2016.)
8.3 For What It’s Worth