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The Kitchen Table

Phrase of the day 3/29

jim_1 (Zone 5B)

3 years ago

Two bits

Bit was originally British slang for any kind of small coin. Thus a Cockney street vendor might speak of a “threepenny [pronounced thruppenny] bit.” But in the Southwest United States, more than two centuries ago, Mexican currency was used interchangeably with the local coinage and the real [pronounce RAY-ahl] – a coin worth about twelve and a half cents American – was called a bit. So when the U.S. quarter dollar piece was coined, it was quickly called two bits.

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Comments (3)

Annie Deighnaugh
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
Real is still the currency in Brazil...
0
yeonassky
3 years ago
The Mexican peso was originally based on the Spanish currency named real. Maybe that's where the confusion is.
0
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Elmer J Fudd
3 years ago
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The European/colonial contact with Mexico was from Spain, on Brazil was from Portugal. Different countries, different languages.

Real in Spanish means royal. Other countries have currency terms related to their royalty, mostly the crown as a monarchistic symbol. England used the term "crown" for specific coins at various times. In Scandinavian countries, it's the local form for crown - kroner, krona, krone. The Czech Republic still uses koruna.

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