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Shave and a Haircut

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Re: Shave and a Haircut

#2
> "Two bits" is a term in the United States and Canada for 25 cents

I don't know about Canada, but the "is" should be a "was" unless there are contexts I don't know about.

It did lead me down a little deeper the Wikipedia rabbit hole, and apparently:

> The New York Stock Exchange continued to list stock prices in $1⁄8 until June 24, 1997, at which time it started listing in $1⁄16. It did not fully implement decimal listing until January 29, 2001.

That's crazy to imagine we're less than 25 years away from the decimalization of the NYSE.

Re: Shave and a Haircut

#4

> "Two bits" is a term in the United States and Canada for 25 cents I don't know about Canada, but the "is" should be a "was" unless there are contexts I don't know about. It did lead me down a little deeper the Wikipedia rabbit hole, and apparently: > The New York Stock Exchange continued to list stock prices in $1⁄8 until June 24, 1997, at which time it started listing in $1⁄16. It did not fully implement decimal l…

Eight bits in a (modern) byte, eight bits in a buck. I wonder if there was a conscious or subconscious correction by the team designing the IBM 360 to align with the existing “standard.”

Re: Shave and a Haircut

#6

regarding “bits” as a monetary term: it took me a solid decade to get the joke in “Making Money” regarding why Reacher Gilt taught his parrot to say “12.5%”

For those who don't get it, it's a reference to Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island which features a parrot that repeats "Pieces of Eight" (also known as a bit).

Re: Shave and a Haircut

#7
> The former prisoner of war and U.S. Navy seaman Doug Hegdahl reports fellow U.S. captives in the Vietnam War would authenticate a new prisoner's U.S. identity by using "Shave and a Haircut" as a shibboleth, tapping the first five notes against a cell wall and waiting for the appropriate response.

With the mass export of western culture, I wonder if there are any songs, tunes, or patterns like this that would still reliably work as a shibboleth.

Re: Shave and a Haircut

#8

> "Two bits" is a term in the United States and Canada for 25 cents I don't know about Canada, but the "is" should be a "was" unless there are contexts I don't know about. It did lead me down a little deeper the Wikipedia rabbit hole, and apparently: > The New York Stock Exchange continued to list stock prices in $1⁄8 until June 24, 1997, at which time it started listing in $1⁄16. It did not fully implement decimal l…

[deleted]

Re: Shave and a Haircut

#9
There's a tune that's very similar to "Shave and a Haircut", but in a minor key, replacing the two eights with a triplet and a chromatic part. (Notes are: G D Db D Eb D; F# G) Does anyone know what its called?
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