The Funny Side

Indeed it was. Here is one list, from the KDF9 programming manual, p 24:

THE KDF9 WORD HAS 48 BITS …

IT MAY BE USED AS…

Eight 6-Bit Alpha-Numeric Characters
One 48-Bit Fixed-Point Number
Two 24-Bit (Half length) Fixed-Point Numbers
Half of a 96-Bit (Double Length) Fixed-Point Number
One 48-Bit Floating-Point Number
Two 24-Bit (Half length) Floating-Point Numbers
Half of a 96-Bit (Double length) Floating-Point Number
Three 16-Bit (Fixed point) Integers
Six 8-Bit Instruction Syllables

An instruction was 1, 2 or 3 syllables; an address was 15 bits.
O, memory! We shall not see its like again.