at face value
to accept something for what it appears to be
TRANSLATION
at face value = etwas wörtlich nehmen, etwas unbesehen glauben --- GOOGLE INDEX at face value: approximately 38,000,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
Brain research tells us that only 20 percent of human beings have a sense of irony, which means that eighty percent of the world takes everything AT FACE VALUE.
- Canadian novelist Doug Coupland
---
Right now, I wouldn't take a single thing a regulator for the European financial system said AT FACE VALUE.
(Business Insider)
- Canadian novelist Doug Coupland
---
Right now, I wouldn't take a single thing a regulator for the European financial system said AT FACE VALUE.
(Business Insider)
Did you
know?
at face value
idiom
- to accept something for what it appears to be rather than studying it more closely
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
---
They say that money makes the world go around. If the number of expressions and phrases related to money is any indication, there must be some truth to this statement. At first glance, there may not appear to be a connection, but the expression "at face value" indeed has its origins in the world of money.
The side of a coin that has the denomination stamped on it is referred to as the face (as in facing up). Unless we suspect the coin might be counterfeit, then we accept this face value as the true monetary worth. While paper money generally has the denomination printed on both sides, it is still called the face value. Another way to think about it is, when looking at coins or currency, "you get what you see." With this mind, "at face value" is used in a figurative sense to mean accepting something for what it appears to be.
Two-sided coins also gave us the rather over-used, "there are two sides to every coin." This means there are two sides to every argument or story and that one side or the other is not necessarily right or more believable. If all else fails, toss a coin to see who is right.
In the UK for instance, if a local or national election has resulted in a tie where candidates receive exactly the same number of votes after 3 recounts, then the winner can be decided by flipping a coin among other methods.
The question is, what do you call the two sides when tossing a coin? The Romans said "ship or head" (navia aut caput), because the coins were minted with a ship on one side and the head of the emperor on the other. In the U.S. coin tossing is called "heads or tails." In Britain, this game was once referred to as "cross and pile."
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"When negotiating, never take what the other person says at face value."
idiom
- to accept something for what it appears to be rather than studying it more closely
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
---
They say that money makes the world go around. If the number of expressions and phrases related to money is any indication, there must be some truth to this statement. At first glance, there may not appear to be a connection, but the expression "at face value" indeed has its origins in the world of money.
The side of a coin that has the denomination stamped on it is referred to as the face (as in facing up). Unless we suspect the coin might be counterfeit, then we accept this face value as the true monetary worth. While paper money generally has the denomination printed on both sides, it is still called the face value. Another way to think about it is, when looking at coins or currency, "you get what you see." With this mind, "at face value" is used in a figurative sense to mean accepting something for what it appears to be.
Two-sided coins also gave us the rather over-used, "there are two sides to every coin." This means there are two sides to every argument or story and that one side or the other is not necessarily right or more believable. If all else fails, toss a coin to see who is right.
In the UK for instance, if a local or national election has resulted in a tie where candidates receive exactly the same number of votes after 3 recounts, then the winner can be decided by flipping a coin among other methods.
The question is, what do you call the two sides when tossing a coin? The Romans said "ship or head" (navia aut caput), because the coins were minted with a ship on one side and the head of the emperor on the other. In the U.S. coin tossing is called "heads or tails." In Britain, this game was once referred to as "cross and pile."
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"When negotiating, never take what the other person says at face value."
