"Don' nobody peek..."

Heya, that's it! though I don't recall having seen it spelt that way. BF's answer is also correct. I'm not sure why the term went by the wayside, unless it's that current hardware makes it unnecessary to think about nibbles. (There are still semiconductor components that use a 4 bit bus, though ... it's possible the still use the term there.)


Next question - one to which I do not know the answer. Is there a generic term for a 'digit,' regardless of base? For example, bit's are "binary units" or "binary digits" depending on whom you ask. 10011 has 5 bits. 1066 has 4 digits. The hex number "FA3C" has 4 "hexadecimal digits" we always called them (a nibble is represented by one hexadecimal digit). But is there another term? I'm thinking 'digit' refers to base 10, although one could make an argument that 'digit' includes any integer base, though. After all the word digital (in opposition to analogue) refers to any descrete units (as opposed to continuous).

But back to the origin of this usage of grand. I found someplace on the web that referred to a grand as "one thousand pounds sterling." Does that usage precede the US usage?

k