When EUR/USD trades at 1.0840, the big figure is 1.08 and the dealing price is simply 40. A voice broker shouting 38 at 41 means 1.0838 bid, 1.0841 offered. Everybody on the call is assumed to know the figure.
This shorthand survives in chat, on squawk services and in news headlines. It also explains phrases such as the euro traded through the figure, meaning the rate crossed a round level like 1.0800, where stop orders and option barriers tend to cluster.
Example: a dealer quotes 90 / 93 in USD/JPY with the figure at 151. That is 151.90 bid, 151.93 offered, a three-pip spread worth about $19.70 per standard-lot on a round trip at that rate.
Related: pipette, two-way-price, mid-rate