Re: 8 Bits a Dollar

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Re: 8 Bits a Dollar

Brilliant! 2-bits, 4-bits, 8-bits, a dollar!

Arand3 wrote:Brilliant! 2-bits, 4-bits, 8-bits, a dollar!

I'm SO glad somebody finally gets it!

I'd originally started doing it as set of old Spanish silver dollars split up like the song, but between the average American not really knowing the origin of the rhyme & the fact that turning them 8-bit made them look like a rather pitiful little gray pizza, I went with Mr. Washington instead. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

dylia wrote:I'm SO glad somebody finally gets it! .

We used to call it "dollar color" back in the day when it was, so it's not lost on some of us old folken.

And I think the rhyme was 2,4,6 dollar. According to the cheerleaders anyway.

j5 wrote:We used to call it "dollar color" back in the day when it was, so it's not lost on some of us old folken.

And I think the rhyme was 2,4,6 dollar. According to the cheerleaders anyway.

Well, that's what you get for relying on cheerleaders for historical information. ;-) I actually tried to explain the history behind it to the cheerleading coach at my high school (who was a teacher herself & married to one of the history teachers) & got a very ditzy "But 8 doesn't come after 4; 6 does." *sigh*

The whole 8-bits-a-dollar thing is from the old Spanish "Pieces of 8" dollar coins. Each bit = $0.125. You could have 6 bits, but that would only give you $0.75 & that was quite a difference back then.

I'll take my nerd hat off now.

dylia wrote:Well, that's what you get for relying on cheerleaders for historical information. ;-) I actually tried to explain the history behind it to the cheerleading coach at my high school (who was a teacher herself & married to one of the history teachers) & got a very ditzy "But 8 doesn't come after 4; 6 does." *sigh*

The whole 8-bits-a-dollar thing is from the old Spanish "Pieces of 8" dollar coins. Each bit = $0.125. You could have 6 bits, but that would only give you $0.75 & that was quite a difference back then.

I'll take my nerd hat off now.

OK, I'm going to put on my pedant hat.

Cheerleader chant 1: 2,4,6,8 who do we appreciate? < mascot >! < mascot >! < mascot >!.
Cheerleader chant 2: 2 bits, 4 bits, 6 bits, a dollar, all for < mascot > stand up and holler.

So....what I'm saying is, when counting by twos, 8 is the next logical progression after 6. Therefore, 8 bits being equivalent to a dollar, it follows that "a dollar" will come after "6 bits"

Q.E.D.

j5 wrote:OK, I'm going to put on my pedant hat.

Cheerleader chant 1: 2,4,6,8 who do we appreciate? < mascot >! < mascot >! < mascot >!.
Cheerleader chant 2: 2 bits, 4 bits, 6 bits, a dollar, all for < mascot > stand up and holler.

So....what I'm saying is, when counting by twos, 8 is the next logical progression after 6. Therefore, 8 bits being equivalent to a dollar, it follows that "a dollar" will come after "6 bits"

Q.E.D.

True, however, the original pneumonic from the 1700's was "2 bits, 4 bits, 8 bits--a dollar," meaning 8 bits = a dollar. It's just another one of those things--like the original "Ring Around the Rosies" lyrics--that's been bastardized by modernization. It makes my inner OCD historian twitch.

dylia wrote:True, however, the original pneumonic from the 1700's was "2 bits, 4 bits, 8 bits--a dollar," meaning 8 bits = a dollar. It's just another one of those things--like the original "Ring Around the Rosies" lyrics--that's been bastardized by modernization. It makes my inner OCD historian twitch.

That's ok. When you spell "mnemonic" as "pneumonic", it makes my inner OCD etymologist twitch. A pneumonic might possibly be something that uses air pressure to help you remember things, at least based on the roots...