Talk:bit

Split one meaning into two - small piece and portion
Previously you had the example "I'd like a little bit of cake", as an example fo the meaning "a small piece of something". That would make it "I'd like a little small piece of cake" !!!

And how about when someone says "I'd like a big bit of cake" - "Did they really mean I'd like a big small pice of cake" ????

No. A new meaning/sense was required - portion.--Richardb 12:20, 12 May 2006 (UTC)


 * Well, a bit is always smaller than the whole. "A big bit" could be an alienans. Equinox ◑ 12:16, 23 January 2024 (UTC)


 * Yeah, "big bit" seems like intentionally using the word 'weird'—I can likewise find two books which speak of . - -sche (discuss) 18:54, 23 January 2024 (UTC)

Sharpened blade?
I think a 'bit' also refers to the sharpened blade of an axe or hatchet  ex: "a double-bit axe"

RFD: bitten
Adjective: "bitten". AFAICT it's just a past participle. DCDuring TALK 23:17, 21 October 2012 (UTC)
 * True, but I don't think we have a sense for this non-standard past-participle form. They were filling a valid gap in our coverage- they just put it in the wrong place. Chuck Entz (talk) 23:29, 21 October 2012 (UTC)
 * I've marked it as informal as past participle. But is it non-standard? in the US? in the UK? The partially legitimized it ("The love bug's done bit me"). DCDuring TALK  00:53, 22 October 2012 (UTC)
 * I don't hear this in my part of the UK. I consider it to be US. Mglovesfun (talk) 10:06, 22 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Yeah I've heard it and maybe even used it in the US. Though bitten is still more common. --WikiTiki89 10:20, 22 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Delete, or provide evidence to show adjectival use. Mglovesfun (talk) 10:04, 23 October 2012 (UTC)
 * On evidence. Bit is used in combination, productively IMO. The combinations are adjectives IMO. So we need perhaps three different instances of formation of an adjective using bit. Because bit would be the 'head' of such words, evidence of the 'adjectivity' of the words so constructed would be evidence of the 'adjectivity' of -bit. The words themselves would not have to be attestable, though snake-bit could easily be attested as an adjective. DCDuring TALK 13:07, 23 October 2012 (UTC)
 * The citations you added still look like participles to me even though they are in combination. --WikiTiki89 15:06, 23 October 2012 (UTC)
 * You're probably right. Sometimes I lose perspective and good judgment when trying to cite something. DCDuring TALK 16:24, 23 October 2012 (UTC)


 * I should comment that I added this because I've been watching zombie movies/episodes what seems like every other day for the past two weeks, and literally 100% of the time, the term used is "He's bit!", "Am I bit?", etc. I literally did not hear even a single use of the term "bitten" in any of them.  Come to think of it, I don't think they were saying "I've been bit" much or at all either; it's usually with "to be" in some form.  Now as to whether it's an adjective, past participle, etc., I will admit I didn't really think about that, nor do I know how you usually handle those things.  I sort of hoped that by adding it, someone would figure it out. :) Wnt (talk) 00:27, 28 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Searching online pulls examples: "If he's bit you must acquit" "He's bit!". Unfortunately, transcripts of zombie movies seem hard to find amid a sea of forum postings with the same phrase, so I'll leave it at those two rather obscure examples. Wnt (talk) 00:36, 28 October 2012 (UTC)


 * That's pretty much how it's working out. Good call. We definitely didn't have good enough coverage of it. It will take a bit longer to get it right. DCDuring TALK 00:41, 28 October 2012 (UTC)

Kept. No consensus to delete. bd2412 T 13:46, 17 September 2013 (UTC)

twelve-and-one-half cents
Microsoft® Encarta® 2009 defines it as twelve-and-one-half cents. Is such a form grammatical? May I add it ? --Backinstadiums (talk) 16:00, 17 July 2019 (UTC)
 * We have the definition of "an eighth of a dollar". No such coin exists, and the term is only ever used as "two bits". SemperBlotto (talk) 16:04, 17 July 2019 (UTC)

adverb: usually with "a"
Can somebody please add an example where a is NOT used? --Backinstadiums (talk) 16:11, 17 July 2019 (UTC)

RFD discussion: September–October 2019
RFD adverb sense:
 * 1) To a small extent; in a small amount (usually with "a").
 * That's a bit too sweet.

The word "bit" itself does not seem to be an adverb here. (Note that we have a separate entry for a bit.) Mihia (talk) 20:17, 27 September 2019 (UTC)
 * Delete. The article shows that it's a noun. The adverbial meaning only belongs to the phrase as a whole. Chuck Entz (talk) 21:01, 27 September 2019 (UTC)


 * I agree that bit is not that, and should be deleted, but there is a small problem with the phrase, which is treated as an adverb. ''DonnanZ (talk) 23:37, 27 September 2019 (UTC)'
 * It's really the phrase that acts adverbially, so yes this should be Deleted. Leasnam (talk) 23:51, 27 September 2019 (UTC)
 * But is an adverb, what else could it be? Canonicalization (talk) 14:31, 3 October 2019 (UTC)


 * Delete We do show a bit as a derived term, which is as it should be. DCDuring (talk) 21:49, 29 September 2019 (UTC)
 * Delete per proponent, Chuck Entz, Leasnam, DCDuring. Canonicalization (talk) 14:31, 3 October 2019 (UTC)

Deleted. Mihia (talk) 21:02, 9 October 2019 (UTC)

the least bit
https://www.thefreedictionary.com/the+least+bit --Backinstadiums (talk) 10:41, 4 August 2020 (UTC)

bit into
https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/bit+into --Backinstadiums (talk) 18:18, 21 August 2020 (UTC)


 * Past tense of bite into; main entry should go there, if really not considered SoP. Equinox ◑ 22:23, 21 August 2020 (UTC)

See also a bit.
Why? Currently a bit is only an adverb

NOUN [a + ~ + of + uncountable noun] a small quantity of something: I'd like a bit of wine to go with this. https://www.wordreference.com/definition/bit

However, *a little of wine is not grammatical, but this different behavior isn't explained in either entry currently. --Backinstadiums (talk) 19:02, 27 September 2020 (UTC)
 * Isn't [[not a bit]] (also seen as not one (little) bit) used in not a bit of it? --Backinstadiums (talk) 10:48, 26 November 2020 (UTC)
 * what about not a blind bit of / not the blindest bit of ? --Backinstadiums (talk) 11:01, 26 November 2020 (UTC)

a bit of
a bit of ⇒ rather: a bit of a dope or there's a bit of a wind --Backinstadiums (talk) 10:33, 26 November 2020 (UTC)

a bit: a large amount
(Noun) a bit (of something) (especially BrE informal) a large amount [https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/bit?q=a+bit ''It rained a fair bit during the night. The new system will take a bit of getting used to.''] --Backinstadiums (talk) 13:00, 26 November 2020 (UTC)


 * Merriam-Webster seems to handle this kind of thing as either bit "3b. an indefinite usually small degree, extent, or amount: a bit of a rascal, every bit as powerful, a bit too sweet" or a bit. Indeed, we ourselves have "it rained a bit last night" as a usex for a bit. Although whether anyone trying to figure out a given use of bit would be able to figure out our current half-split of some of the senses onto a bit and others on bit is debatable. I notice we also treat a horse's bit and a small amount under the same ety, whereas MW and Dictionary.com split them. - -sche (discuss) 18:50, 23 January 2024 (UTC)

plural : bit
"Two bits" or "two bit" continues in general use as a colloquial expression for 25¢ --Backinstadiums (talk) 19:44, 26 November 2020 (UTC)

Possible missing sense: perhaps a small place? (Scottish?)

 * 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide
 * 'Bide the night at Heriotside,' says he. 'It's a thought out of your way, but it's a comfortable bit.'

Equinox ◑ 19:13, 30 September 2021 (UTC)

Coin senses
We already have a few senses for small coins, but John Camden Hotten's Slang Dictionary (1873) is somewhat different, initially mentioning four pence: "Bit, fourpence; in America a 12½ cent piece is called a BIT Bit usually means the smallest silver coin in circulation; also a piece of money of any kind." Equinox ◑ 12:15, 23 January 2024 (UTC)