Posted on 03/02/2020 5:45:46 AM PST by sodpoodle
The idea of ‘bits’ came from the time when coins were actually worth something, not because of what was stamped on them but because what they were made from, in the case of the Spanish dollar, silver.
The stamping added value only in the sense that it was the government’s guarantee of the amount and purity of the silver, but the value of the coin actually was in its silver. Hard to believe today, but it disappeared in the US in 1965.
Small change was rare, so to make it, the dollar could be cut into halves, quarters, and eighths.
The US dollar was modeled after the Spanish Milled Dollar as minted in Mexico City from a time when Mexico was a far wealthier nation/colony than the US.
Bought the Farm.
In the early days of aviation, plane were less reliable and would often go down. The pilots would usually land on farms and would have to pay the farmer for any crops destroyed. If the crash was very bad the pilot would “Buy the whole farm”; which was changed to “Bought the farm” if the pilot died.
I saw this on an episode of Hill Street Blues.
Someone took a cow upstairs in a apartment building and the police had a difficult time getting the cow down the stairs.
I don't know why an inner city denizen would bring a cow into apartment building. It was a TV show.
Tungsten is another name for Wolfram.
That’s one badass turtle!
The stamping added value only in the sense that it was the government’s guarantee of the amount and purity of the silver, but the value of the coin actually was in its silver. Hard to believe today, but it disappeared in the US in 1965.
I would also like to point out that this is why coins have a reeded edge. It was to prevent folks from shaving the edges, and thus lessening the silver content of the coin. You can easily see when such a coin has been shaved.
Mythbusters succeeded in getting eight folds in a piece of paper, but they started with a piece of paper larger than a football field. It was, shall we say, difficult to do.
I know some Progressive Politicians who have to, because their heads are located up inside there. . .
YMMV
When I was in flight school we understood that if you crashed your plane (whether you lived or died) it would always, always land on top of the prize pig, experimental and very valuable hybrid corn or something expensive along these lines.
Thus, you “bought the farm” which was the same fate if you died doing it.
It was that much when I joined up in '51. That was all the money in the world to a 17-year-old.
I saw a large snapper do that to another smaller snapper.
bfl
I have heard & read that “over the barrel” ref. to drowning victims, before. For what that’s worth.
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/sawbuck
SAWBUCK: NOUN
1. a sawhorse, esp. one with the legs projecting above the crossbar
2. Slang
a ten-dollar bill
A "fin" is a slang term occasionally used for a $5 bill. The term "fin" has its origins in both the German and Yiddish languages, in which the word is loosely related to the word "five."
In addition to the term "fin," two other popular slang terms used for the $5 bill include "fiver" and "five-spot".
Slang terms for money are often in reference to the appearance, features, historical associations or the units of currency for the banknotes or coins involved. In the United States, some popular slang terms used for money in general include dough, smackers, simoleons and duckets.
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