(31:5)
"Sum tyms bytin sum tyms bit"
Computer terms again: a bit is a binary digit (a single 1 or 0) and a byte is a series of eight bits corresponding to a single character; computers encode all information as a sequence of bits. (The pun is not Hoban's; with typical engineer humor, "byte" was coined after "bit" was already in use—spelled with a Y to make the two words more visually distinct—and "nibble" is a little-used term for half a byte.) The convenience of the binary system for digital electronics is only the most recent example of human beings' inclination to summarize everything in terms of two opposites.