Make Your Editor Cry: Bight vs. Bite vs. Byte
A bite is a portion that is taken away by the rasping of teeth or the wound left from the rasping of teeth. A bite may also refer to the nibbling of a fish on a lure or bait. Bite may mean a small amount to eat. Bite also functions as a verb meaning to clamp down on something with the teeth or tear something away with the teeth, or the nibbling of a fish on a lure or bait.
A byte is a unit of computer memory. One byte is usually eight bits and is processed as a single unit of data. A single byte can have values ranging from 00000000 to 11111111 in binary form, which can be conveniently represented as 00 to FF in hexadecimal.
A bight is also a loop in a rope or strap. When paratroopers hold some intentional slack in the static line before departing from the aircraft, that slack is called a bight.
They say whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Paratroopers don’t make you stronger. Paratroopers kill you.
Obviously, you don’t want to confuse these three words.
Gregg Bridgeman is the Editor-in-Chief at Olivia Kimbrell Press. He is husband to best-selling Christian author Hallee Bridgeman and parent to three. He continues to proudly serve in the US Armed Forces and has done so in either an active or reserve capacity for more than twenty years as an airborne and air assault qualified paratrooper, earning a Bronze Star for his service. Most importantly, he was ordained in October of 2001 after surrendering his life to Christ decades earlier.