“You are worth your weight in gold!”

We use this phrase to indicate someone who is extremely useful, helpful, or valuable to someone else. It can refer either to a person or to a thing, but we most often use it to refer to a person. The idea behind the phrase is gratitude –that “we” could not manage without that person, because he or shehas become so valuable to us and to our process or goal in what he or she is able to accomplish on our behalf.

While we might say this about an old refrigerator that has been working faithfully for over 40 years, likewise a CEO might say the same about a manager, who has saved the company thousands of dollars, or a secretary, whose efficiency makes things run smoothly and easily, saving time and effort. Unfortunately, while the phrase is meant as a compli…