Bucky Bits /buh'kee Bits/ N. 1. Obs. The Bits Produced By The CONTROL And META Shift Keys On A SAIL Keyboard (octal 200 And 400 Respectively), Resulting In A 9-bit Keyboard Character Set.

Bucky Bits /buh'kee Bits/ N. 1. Obs. The Bits Produced By The CONTROL And META Shift Keys On A SAIL Keyboard (octal 200 And 400 Respectively), Resulting In A 9-bit Keyboard Character Set.

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bucky bits /buh'kee bits/ n.

1. obs. The bits produced by
the CONTROL and META shift keys on a SAIL keyboard (octal 200 and
400 respectively), resulting in a 9-bit keyboard character set.
The MIT AI TV (Knight) keyboards extended this with TOP and
separate left and right CONTROL and META keys, resulting in a
12-bit character set; later, LISP Machines added such keys as
SUPER, HYPER, and GREEK (see space-cadet keyboard). 2. By
extension, bits associated with `extra' shift keys on any
keyboard, e.g., the ALT on an IBM PC or command and option keys on
a Macintosh.

It has long been rumored that `bucky bits' were named for
Buckminster Fuller during a period when he was consulting at
Stanford. Actually, bucky bits were invented by Niklaus Wirth when
he was at Stanford in 1964-65; he first suggested the idea
of an EDIT key to set the 8th bit of an otherwise 7-bit ASCII
character). It seems that, unknown to Wirth, certain Stanford
hackers had privately nicknamed him `Bucky' after a prominent
portion of his dental anatomy, and this nickname transferred to the
bit. Bucky-bit commands were used in a number of editors written
at Stanford, including most notably TV-EDIT and NLS.

The term spread to MIT and CMU early and is now in general use.
Ironically, Wirth himself remained unaware of its derivation for
nearly 30 years, until GLS dug up this history in early 1993! See
double bucky, quadruple bucky.

Related:

pace-cadet keyboard n. A now-legendary device used on MIT LISP machines, which inspired several still-current jargon terms and influenced the design of EMACS.
It was equipped with no fewer than seven shift key...
quadruple bucky: n., obs. 1. On an MIT {space-cadet keyboard}, use of all four of the shifting keys (control, meta, hyper, and super) while typing a character key.
2. On a Stanford or MIT keyboard in {raw mode}, use of four shift keys while typing a fifth character, where the four shift keys are the control and meta keys on *both* sides of the keyboard....
double bucky adj. Using both the CTRL and META keys.
The command to burn all LEDs is double bucky F....
quadruple bucky n. obs. 1. On an MIT space-cadet keyboard, use of all four of the shifting keys (control, hyper, and super) while typing a character key.
2. On a Stanford or MIT keyboard in raw mode, use of four shift keys while typing a fifth character, where the four shift keys are the control and meta keys on both sides of the keyboard....
meta bit: n. The top bit of an 8-bit character, which is on in character values 128--255.
Also called {high bit}, {alt bit}, or {hobbit}....
meta bit n. The top bit of an 8-bit character, which is on in character values 128-255.
Also called high bit, alt bit, or (rarely) hobbit....
Double Bucky, you're the one, You make my keyboard so much fun, Double Bucky, an additional bit or two, (Vo-vo-de-o) Control and meta, side by side, Augmented ASCII, 9 bits wide!
Double Bucky, a half a thousand glyphs, plus a few!...
alt: /awlt/ 1. n. The alt shift key on an IBM PC or {clone} keyboard
ee {bucky bits}, sense 2 (though typical PC usage does not simply set the 0200 bit)....
alt /awlt/ 1. n. The alt shift key on an IBM PC or clone keyboard
ee bucky bits, sense 2 (though typical PC usage does not simply set the 0200 bit)....