A question about the current usage of the term "two bits"
CaptHenway
Posts: 32,763 ✭✭✭✭✭
When I was just a boy it was common to hear the term "two bits" used to refer to a quarter. My high school's cheerleaders had a routine that went "Two Bits! Four Bits! Six Bits! A Dollar!" Then "(something something) stand up and holler!" A musical or percussive cadence "DAH DA DA DAH DAH, DA DAH!" translated as "Shave and a hair cut, two bits!"
However, it occurs to me that I never hear the term "two bits" any more outside of numismatic circles. That said, I lead a sheltered life, so I am asking you, gentle readers, do you hear the term "two bits" any more in casual conversation? Do you use it yourself? Do you ever get blank stares when you use it among young whippersnappers?
Any comments would be appreciated.
TD
Numismatist. 50 year member ANA. Winner of four ANA Heath Literary Awards; three Wayte and Olga Raymond Literary Awards; Numismatist of the Year Award 2009, and Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. Winner numerous NLG Literary Awards.
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Around here it went like this; "Two bits, four bits, six bits a dollar. Come on PANTHERS stand up and holler!" They're all grannies now. That's why I never go to the class reunions. I prefer to remember it The way it was. My dreams are much better that way.
I hear it very, very rarely. Never to specifically stand in for "twenty-five cents" or "a quarter." Rather, rhetorically, to indicate what the speaker wouldn't pay for something --- e.g., "I wouldn't give him two bits for that tractor."
Don't hear it in conversation anymore. I use it occasionally to indicate the relative worthlessness of something or someone. By using it I am in a minority, but then, so is my age group.
I don't hear used very often. And when I do hear someone use it, I ask them if they even know what two bits is. Not one of them has any idea of where two bits is derived. Then the coin geek in me has to inform them and their eye's glaze over... LOL
A little history lesson.
The first silver dollar used in this country was the Spanish 8 reale. As money was scarce, the 8 reale was cut into 8 pieces, thus the pirate parrot saying pieces of 8, pieces of 8 . An eigth was a bit and thus 2 bits became a quarter ( a quarter of a reale.) This was carried over when we started making own own coinage and so we produced a quarter of a dollar as part of our coinage which was sometimes referred to as 2 bits. This has disappeared from our history and today has no meaning in our society and so we lose the term 2 bits from our vocabulary.
Bob Sr CEO Fieldtechs
If I were to use it to a person under 35 or so, they would not have any idea what I was talking about.
Yep, use it all the time (like code, the grand kids have no clue).
bob
Sometimes used as an insult that can get you hit with a bag of quarters.
2 bits= 1/4 byte
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Here's and example for instance: My son and daughter and I were in Mexico City recently and he remarked at how they use the "dollar" sign for pesos. Well, I sensed an opportunity to give a history lesson and help them to appreciate my silly hobby. I told them how the US actually adopted that symbol from the Reales which were minted many many years before the USA came into being and that Mexican and South American silver circulated in the colonies and in the US early in our history. They seemed to be eating it all up...they're both college alumni and I don't recall either of them acting as if they knew this already (of course they may have known but feigned interest to humor me). They are 25 and 39 years old (still young whippersnappers to me) and I wouldn't put it past them to just let me ramble on... anyway the discussion made it all the way to the "bits' also.
Kibbles and Bits
I don’t think I’ve heard it in many, many years. When I was kid (60s and 70s) it was very common. I probably heard it daily.
Dave
I hear it when I watch Bugs Bunny and Friends.
I always thought two bits was some amount of English money.
"A dog breaks your heart only one time and that is when they pass on". Unknown
My opinion is not worth two bits
I haven't heard that in years !!!
It's rare that 'quarter' comes up in conversation anymore.
I've never really used the expression 'two bits'. My grandfather did . My Uncle did. My Dad never.
That cheer sounds familiar.
Can't say my school used it but I heard, probably on t.v.
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Old westerns, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, etc.
In current times, the closest reference to any type of bit, is the reference to WIFI internet speeds, i.e., mega/giga-bits.
The old folks used the expression often, but not part of this old fart's generation. I hear rumor that bits now have some type of new currency value? Also something to do with a lady's anatomy but what do I know. Just an old fart who's probably senile.
Or maybe not...
Interesting how etymology evolves and resurrects itself.
My dad used it occasionally when I was growing up in the 50's & 60's. I knew that it meant .25 cents at the time but I haven't heard that term in probably 60 years.
@bobsr Thanks for the history lesson, it was very informative.
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Here is a real "bit" issued under the auspices of the Isle of Curacao.
It was fairly common when I was a kid...often heard it on the paper route..(Kids do not sell papers anymore... and only adults have paper routes - with their cars, and not many of those). Naturally heard it from my parents, and some other kids. I have not heard that in at least 50 years in conversation though. Cheers, RickO
I still use it. I like a lot of old sayings. I guess I read a lot in the past. I also like knowing the origins of the saying and find it a fun conversation using it then explaining to others where it came from. Like "how do you like them pineapples" or "three sheets to the wind".
I also like using words in conversation that were common in the past or not from the current region I live in. Pop instead of soda. Swell. Howdy. Etc... not a lot but I drop them in without thinking sometimes when in the mood.
So hang around a younger well read crowd who might happen to like old time radio and you will hear it! Younger being 40 something. Heh.
Dont take any wooden nickels!
I guess inflation has killed it. When I was 10 years old if I had a quarter I was rich. Nowadays a quarter is ten minutes of parking on the meter.
When I was going to movies in the late 1950s and early '60s, a quarter seemed like "big money." Many candy bars were 5 cents, and the "expensive ones" like Mounds and Almand Joy were a dime. A bag of popcorn was also a dime. The admission was 15 cents for kids and 25 cents for adults.
Of course this was a small town local theater that didn't have any first run movies. Usually the admission covered a double feature plus a cartoon. It was a big deal when they got the film "Sparticus."
I like using it once in awhile here and there it depends upon the conversation and the mood or tone. We all know a "bit" was an eighth of a dollar sized coin say a reales . Cut from the reales. Trying seeing your dentist and in a moment of levity say "shave and a haircut" two bits. Hee , hee. Not many young people will think it funny or get the association between the two professions.
I was once on a construction job and family vacations came up and I told the other men how "my family visited the White House" that past summer. They being both younger, ignorant and folk who say they vote retorted "who the hell are you?"
I explained how to get tickets from your State Senator.
A lot of words and things we do are still out there to be spoken and done as well as used, but somehow get lost as the time goes my favorite colonial coin "fugio cent" my spell checker doesn't like the word fugio as I write this.
Words actually get deleted from dictionaries. _The word I think should be brought back into use BLATHERSKITE. __again my spell checker doesn't like the word.
The CaptHenway no doubt has forgotten more than I know. Good question CaptHenway
I used it when I was working on a car recently. The lug not broke so I went to O'Reilly's and said " I need two bits".
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I hear the term on rare occasion, it's usually a old fart like me using it.
I don't think it's a common term, at least not in an electronic money society.
Well every time I see my sister in law, I silently say to myself................................awe never mind
Steve
It's getting more and more that young people don't even know what a quarter is, using plastic to pay for everything. Wonder what they will do if there is a power outage and they don't have any money on them.
I'm sure that joke was invented the day after the first person cut up a Reale into eight pieces. I know I'm old...I remember 4 Bits!
Take care...
CC
A lot of younger people don't do mathematical fractions very well at all.
With the advent of pocket calculators and iPads, the kids all know what 0.25 is, but not so many can relate that to 1/4.
Many persons also honed their fraction skills reading stock/equity prices, and those are no longer quoted in 1/8ths.
@CaptHenway Here is a modern use of the term "two bits" but first, a bit of history: Similar to what @Hydrant said, at the University of Florida back in 1949, when the football team was awful, at a game one fan (George Edmondson) started yelling "Two bits, four bits, six bits a dollar. All for the Gators stand up and holler!" He walked around the stadium shouting this cheer to rouse the fans. It apparently worked, so he continued walking around the stadium and leading this cheer for EVERY home for the next 6 decades (!) and became known as "Mr. Two Bits." He retired in 2008 when he was 86. Since then before each home game a different person is introduced to the crowd as that game's Honorary Mr. Two Bits and that person then leads the cheer. So, at least at the University of Florida, the term "two bits" is still in use.
The other day I made a small purchase at a Dunkin Donuts that came up to $3.56 after tax. I gave the cashier, who had a badge that said Manager, three brass bucks, a half and a quarter. She studied all of them, including the quarter, and entered $3.65 as the amount tendered and gave me 16 cents change. I said that was $3.75 so she gave me another nickel. I said you owe me another nickel ( yeah I know it should have been three cents) and she gave it to me.
And of course they got the coffee order wrong.
That happened to me the other day at the store and my bill was 4.14 and I gave a 5 dollar bill and 14 cents in change and she was puzzled as hell I tried for two minutes to explain you owe me exactly a dollar bill...............couldn't get it through to her
Steve
When I was in college I worked at a party store for a year. Sales tax was 4% with consistent break lines. People would bring up 5 or 6 items and I would add it up in my head, figure the tax, announce the total then run it on the cash register to prove I was right .
I wonder what the allowed 'over and short' at some retailers actually is nowadays.
I had heard that TJ Maxx allowed up to $20 in a shift, but if the assistant manager wanted a marginal employee gone, it wasn't that much.
@CaptHenway After you said " I said you owe me another nickel" ( yeah I know it should have been three cents) and she gave it to me, did you then say "You owe me another quarter" and then "You owe me another dollar" and then "You owe me another five dollars" and then ... ?
I try to use it when the opportunity arises. My daughter loves to use the term "C-note" and "sawbuck".
And by the way, a shave and a haircut are 6-bits.
I think it's our education system. When we are hiring trainees at work we give them a GCT test. It is a standardized basic skills test. The math part is pretty easy, I would guess 7th grade, but they cant use a calculator. It amazes me how many younger candidates do well on other parts of the test but can't do simple math by hand. It seems in today's world it is more important to know how to use electronic tools than it is to learn how to solve problems.
As far as the use of the term "two bits" goes, I think for it to ever come back into common use it would need to either be the name of a famous rapper, or part of a popular video game. The historical aspect that most of us found cool when we were kids doesn't have much meaning in today's world. Okay, I just reread my post, and it looks like I'm becoming a curmudgeon, another word that doesn't get much anymore.
The only time I ever heard the term "2 bits" was watching an old VHS Charles Bronson movie: Mr. Majestyk (1974). In the scene Bronson asks a store clerk how much a phone call would cost, she respond's "2 bits." It was so odd to hear that it has stuck with me since.
We should bring the term back...numismatics unite!
Yeah, you can't do this anymore.
No one understands the concept, and you will wait and wait while they try to figure it out.
Usually they will have to involve the manager, who in your case didn't know either, or they will short you or give you too much money back.
Then it starts all over again.
If you use the term two bits in public you are likely going to get a Little Nipper look.
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@CaptHenway said:
The other day I made a small purchase at a Dunkin Donuts that came up to $3.56 after tax. I gave the cashier, who had a badge that said Manager, three brass bucks, a half and a quarter. She studied all of them, including the quarter, and entered $3.65 as the amount tendered and gave me 16 cents change. I said that was $3.75 so she gave me another nickel. I said you owe me another nickel ( yeah I know it should have been three cents) and she gave it to me.
And of course they got the coffee order wrong.
"Well, that's the way the ole cookie crumbles."
Ever watch YouTube videos of them asking basic questions? Its amusing but a little scary at the same time.
"A dog breaks your heart only one time and that is when they pass on". Unknown
Now I hear, which card are you gonna put that on? Peace Roy
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I tell them "The Jack of Diamonds!"
I love these discussions, always by old people saying young people are uneducated, unmotivated, un everything positive, whereas THEY were the Best of the Best of the Best, SIR !!
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One of my biggest challenges being an engineering manager in a semiconductor manufacturing plant was dealing with the majority (no all) of people over 40. They lacked the education to run modern tools, never heard of standard deviations, sigmas, etc. Many shirked their job responsibilities because they had worked there 20+ years, so they were "owed" an easy job. Meanwhile, the under 35 were running laps around them. Sadly, most people who graduated before 1990 do not have the education to function in a high technology work environment. They can name 50 state capitals and write cursive, and do the simple math of a 4 function calculator, but don't understand the math indicating a process shift on a piece of equipment.
Job Market 50 years ago: Millions of mind numbing low to no skills jobs Fortunately, those millions of people labord away in environmental cesspools, and then quietly died off due to overwork, chemical exposure or workplace accidents without putting much stress on the Social Security System.
Old Army logic: Let's line up 50,000 men and have them charge machine guns every day for a couple years and eventually, maybe the enemy will run out of bullets.
Let's Put lead in our paint and our gasoline, surely that will not be a problem.
A "bit" more obscure is this token, showing two bridle bits as a visual play on words:
Pacific Northwest Numismatic Association
It's only been since 2001 that the stock markets switched from reporting in eighths ⅛ (bits) to cents.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2000-09-06-0009060131-story.html
A colleague at work just borrowed a quarter so he could get something from the vending machine. I remarked "you owe me two bits". But at home we say davenport instead of sofa and alligator pear instead of avocado...
Pacific Northwest Numismatic Association
My dad who passed away last month used it all the time (along with C note and sawbuck)...... Now, I don't know that I'll ever hear those things again.
Part of the problem is that a quarter is so valueless, the need to talk about one hardly ever arises. Maybe I'm just an old, rich guy now, but I think we'd get along perfectly well with a small 10 cent copper, a miniature quarter, a half-dollar, dollar, 5 dollar, and 10 dollar coin. Coins would suddenly be meaningful again and we'd save tons of money. Coins last much longer in circulation than paper......... but there seems to be no will or motivation to change our change.