# "What are my bid?" -- Why are it plural? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 5, 2003, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-my-bid-why-are-it-plural/173166 "2003-05-05T13:10:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-my-bid-why-are-it-plural/173166/1 "2003-05-05T13:10:44Z")
Why not, “what is my bid?” Or, “what are my bids?” How did the common usage get started? ---
**Author:** ![chillihead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/278dde/32.png) [@chillihead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chillihead)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-my-bid-why-are-it-plural/173166/2 "2003-05-05T13:13:16Z")
I always thought it was What am I bid ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-my-bid-why-are-it-plural/173166/3 "2003-05-05T13:14:06Z")
“What am I bid” Sounds like: “What are my bid” ---
**Author:** ![woolly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ebca7d/32.png) [@woolly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woolly)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-my-bid-why-are-it-plural/173166/4 "2003-05-05T13:24:53Z")
“What am i bid”. ibid Hey this might be my only chance for a pile-on Lib. ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-my-bid-why-are-it-plural/173166/5 "2003-05-05T13:36:58Z")
To be fair, not everybody says the same thing the same way everywhere. Lib might have seen it on TV sometime. ---
**Author:** ![bcullman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bcullman/32/8207_2.png) [@bcullman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bcullman)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-my-bid-why-are-it-plural/173166/6 "2003-05-05T17:14:59Z")
Usage where? I have never heard of this phrase. When/where is it used? ---
**Author:** ![Rhino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a5b964/32.png) [@Rhino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhino)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-my-bid-why-are-it-plural/173166/7 "2003-05-05T17:18:49Z")
I think it’s used by an auctioneer at an auction. Also used in the card game of Bridge. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-my-bid-why-are-it-plural/173166/8 "2003-05-05T17:43:50Z")
Ah. It are my southern ear. 🙂 Thanks, all. ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-my-bid-why-are-it-plural/173166/9 "2003-05-05T18:04:25Z")
The bridge phrase I’ve always heard is “what is the bid”, never “what am I bid?” ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-my-bid-why-are-it-plural/173166/10 "2003-05-05T18:18:29Z")
“What am I bid?” is correct and it means “What am I [being] offered?” ---
**Author:** ![El\_Smasho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f9ae1b/32.png) [@El\_Smasho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Smasho)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-my-bid-why-are-it-plural/173166/11 "2003-05-05T18:45:14Z")
I’ve heard some people say variations like that (also when bidding at cards), and the exlanation to my mind was that it was part of a code to their partner. There’s a lot of that going on at auctions with shills in the audience. ---
**Author:** ![trabi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecae2f/32.png) [@trabi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trabi)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-my-bid-why-are-it-plural/173166/12 "2003-05-05T21:23:24Z")
In England (where a few people still speak English) auctioneers say “what AM I bid for this lovely pair of candlesticks, etc.” Probably some thick twat got the wrong end of the stick and then started saying it at a cattle auction in Pisshole, Texas, and the phrase stuck. God bless the US of A! ---
**Author:** ![hermann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b487fb/32.png) [@hermann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hermann)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-my-bid-why-are-it-plural/173166/13 "2003-05-06T01:06:43Z")
Pisshole is in New York, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![trabi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecae2f/32.png) [@trabi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trabi)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-my-bid-why-are-it-plural/173166/14 "2003-05-06T20:12:47Z")
Probably, but do they hold cattle auctions there? ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-my-bid-why-are-it-plural/173166/15 "2003-05-06T23:45:35Z")
> [@](#): > > To be fair, not everybody says the same thing the same way everywhere. Lib might have seen it on TV sometime. I got it, even if no one else did. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-my-bid-why-are-it-plural/173166/16 "2003-05-07T00:19:42Z")
Um, yeah. A few people did. But since you went out of your way to point it out… **RM** , we do not insult other members in General Questions. Even obliquely. Do not repeat this behavior.