bucky bits

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}.