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From: bart <bc@freeuk.com>
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: The integral type 'byte' (was Re: Suggested method for returning
 a string from a C program?)
Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2025 13:12:28 +0000
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On 26/03/2025 11:47, David Brown wrote:
> On 26/03/2025 12:02, Richard Harnden wrote:
>> On 26/03/2025 10:10, David Brown wrote:
>>> But the fact that "octet" was a standardised term for 8 bits prior to 
>>> the standardisation of the term "byte", does not change the fact that 
>>> the term "byte" was standardised as 8 bits - in common computing 
>>> usage by at least 40 years ago (though I still think 50 years ago is 
>>> reasonable), and in official international standards by at least 30 
>>> years ago.
>>
>> I was taught - probably wrongly - that byte was a contraction of 
>> 'binary-eight'.
>>
> 
> As far as I know, it was just a re-spelling (to avoid mixups with "bit") 
> of the word "bite" that was used to indicate a small chunk of something. 
>   Certainly the word was used before its size was fixed at 8 bits.
> 
> The word "bit", on the other hand, is often said to come from "binary 
> digit" or "binary information digit".  Personally, I think it is a lot 
> simpler - it's the smallest usable bit of information you can have. 
> Saying it is a "binary digit" just makes it clearer how big a bit you have.
> 

So where did a 'bit' being 1/8th of a dollar come from? (As in, two bits 
being 25 cents.) Maybe a coincidence?