Other songs from the same period also used the tune. In the UK, it was often said as "five bob" (slang for five shillings), although words are now rarely used to accompany the rhythm or the tune.Īn early occurrence of the tune is from an 1899 Charles Hale song, "At a Darktown Cakewalk". "Four bits" and "Six bits" are also occasionally used, for example in the cheer "Two bits, four bits, six bits, a dollar." The final words may also be "get lost", "drop dead" (in Australia), or some other facetious expression. " Two bits" is a term in the United States and Canada for 25 cents, equivalent to a U.S. It is used melodically or rhythmically, for example as a door knock.
" Shave and a Haircut" and the associated response " two bits" is a seven-note musical call-and-response couplet, riff or fanfare popularly used at the end of a musical performance, usually for comedic effect. It did not fully implement decimal listing until January 29, 2001."Shave and a Haircut" in G major and then with chords.
The New York Stock Exchange continued to list stock prices in eighths of a dollar until June 24, 1997, at which time it started listing in sixteenths. all for (player's name), stand up and holler!" The expression also survives in the sports cheer "Two bits, four bits, six bits, a dollar. budget record label Crown (1930-1933) advertised on their sleeve, "2 Hits for 2 Bits" (25 cents).Īnother example of the use of "bit" can be found in the poem "Six-Bits Blues" by Langston Hughes, which includes the following couplet: Gimme six bits' worth o'ticket / On a train that runs somewhere. Roger Miller's song " King of the Road" features these lines: Ah, but two hours of pushin' broom buys an / Eight by twelve four-bit room. "Two bits" or "two bit" continues in general use as a colloquial expression, primarily because of the song catchphrase " Shave and a Haircut, two bits." As an adjective, " two-bit" can be used to describe something cheap or unworthy.
Two bits meaning free#
Look up two bits or two-bit in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. But if you have not, and lay down a quarter, the bar-keeper or shopman calmly tenders you a dime by way of change and thus you have paid what is called a LONG BIT, and lost two and a half cents, or even, by comparison with a short bit, five cents. If you have one, you lay it triumphantly down, and save two and a half cents. But how about an odd bit? The nearest coin to it is a dime, which is, short by a fifth. When it comes to two bits, the quarter-dollar stands for the required amount. The supposed value of the bit is twelve and a half cents, eight to the dollar. Robert Louis Stevenson describes his experience with bits in Across the Plains, p. 144 : In the Pacific States they have made a bolder push for complexity, and settle their affairs by a coin that no longer exists – the BIT, or old Mexican real. Because there was no one-bit coin, a dime (10 ¢) was sometimes called a short bit and 15¢ a long bit. currency in 1794, there was no longer a coin worth 1/8 of a dollar but "two bits" remained in the language with the meaning of one quarter dollar, "four bits" half dollar, etc. One eighth of a dollar or one silver real was one "bit". In the U.S., the "bit" as a designation for money dates from the colonial period, when the most common unit of currency used was the Spanish dollar, also known as "piece of eight", which was worth 8 Spanish silver reales. When the British pound was worth 2 1/2 US Dollars (8 shillings to dollar), a 2 shilling coin was worth 25 US cents. The Florin or two shilling coin, was often referred to as the "two bob bit".
Most familiarly, the old threepence (3d) coin, which was referred to as the Thrupp'ny bit. United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries
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