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From: David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no>
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 14:48:02 +0100
Organization: A noiseless patient Spider
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On 26/03/2025 14:12, bart wrote:
> 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?

I would guess it came from silver dollars being cut into bits for "small 
change".  With silver coins, people often used "hack-silver" - coins or 
other silver items chopped up.  Cutting a coin into eight bits is 
probably as small as you can get with a reasonable accuracy, and with 
reasonable confidence that the parts are actually bits of a dollar coin.

The practice probably pre-dates the American dollar (certainly 
hack-silver is as old as silver coins), and is probably the origin of 
"pieces of eight".