Am I correct in believing that the $ symbol is a corrupted "8"?
_____ From: owner-u...@colostate.edu [mailto:owner-u...@colostate.edu] On Behalf Of Patrick Moore Sent: 13 July 2009 15:23 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:45354] Re: Dandyprat "Pieces of eight, pieces of eight." Didn't Cap'n Flint, the parrot, say that? 100/8 = 12.5. _____ From: John Frewen-Lord <j...@frewston.plus.com> Reply-To: <j...@frewston.plus.com> Date: Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:58:08 +0100 To: "U.S. Metric Association" <usma@colostate.edu> Subject: [USMA:45353] Re: Dandyprat The term 'bit', as in "...a two-bit son of a b****...." is, I believe, an old Canadian term meaning half a quarter, or 12.5 cents. Hence the term two-bit, meaning one quarter. Can anyone confirm this? John F-L ----- Original Message ----- From: STANLEY DOORE <mailto:stan.do...@verizon.net> To: U.S. Metric Association <mailto:usma@colostate.edu> Sent: Monday, July 13, 2009 2:42 PM Subject: [USMA:45352] Re: Dandyprat Halving is nothing new since it's based on the binary system. One early king, who had many wives, used the binary system to indicate which number wife was now queen by showing his fingers on his staff during court. Stan Doore ----- Original Message ----- From: Pat Naughtin <mailto:pat.naugh...@metricationmatters.com> To: U.S. Metric Association <mailto:usma@colostate.edu> Sent: Sunday, July 12, 2009 6:21 AM Subject: [USMA:45348] Dandyprat Dear Harry, There have always been forces to retrofit decimal numbers with halves, quarters, and eighths. Think of the retrofitting of the decimal currency in the USA with half-dollars and quarter-dollars. This old halving method of dividing things cropped up from time to time throughout history. My favourite is the dandyprat. This coin was invented to divide English threepences into halves. In the early sixteenth century a coin was issued in England that was one half of three pence, making it equal to a penny ha'penny or an eighth of a shilling. This coin came to be called a dandiprat although nobody seems to know where this word came from. Soon after the appearance of the dandiprat coin it was associated with being small and insignificant and in particular a small childlike person. Consider this quote from a 2002 book, Forward the Mage, by Eric Flint and Richard Roach: Who is so wise as to distinguish, with unerring precision, between a little man, a dwarf, a gnome, a midget, a shrimp, a runt, a pygmy, a Lilliputian, a chit, a fingerling, a pigwidgeon, a mite, a dandiprat, a micromorph, an homunculus, a dapperling, a small fry - or someone with bad posture, weighted down with the cares of the world? Cheers, Pat Naughtin Author of the forthcoming book, Metrication Leaders Guide. PO Box 305 Belmont 3216, Geelong, Australia Phone: 61 3 5241 2008 Metric system consultant, writer, and speaker, Pat Naughtin, has helped thousands of people and hundreds of companies upgrade to the modern metric system smoothly, quickly, and so economically that they now save thousands each year when buying, processing, or selling for their businesses. Pat provides services and resources for many different trades, crafts, and professions for commercial, industrial and government metrication leaders in Asia, Europe, and in the USA. Pat's clients include the Australian Government, Google, NASA, NIST, and the metric associations of Canada, the UK, and the USA. See http://www.metricationmatters.com <http://www.metricationmatters.com/> for more metrication information, contact Pat at pat.naugh...@metricationmatters.com or to get the free 'Metrication matters' newsletter go to: http://www.metricationmatters.com/newsletter to subscribe. On 2009/07/12, at 7:55 PM, Harry Wyeth wrote: Another example of this "half a yard" nonsense! (Eighth paragraph, I think). http://apnews.myway.com//article/20090712/D99COISO0.html <http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090712/D99COISO0.html> HARRY WYETH
