n. Two bits. This in turn comes from the 'pieces of eight' famed in pirate movies -- Spanish gold pieces that could be broken into eight pie-slice-shaped 'bits' to make change. Early in American history the Spanish coin was considered equal to a dollar, so each of these 'bits' was considered worth 12.5 cents.
Syn. tayste, crumb, quad.
Usage: rare.
See also nickle, nybble, byte, dynner.