Pips are dots! They appear in a number of different locations, but are the most common on dice (particularly six-sided dice) and dominoes. 

As we all know, there's more than one way to represent a number. You have Roman Numerals (I, II, III, IV, etc.), symbols (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.), each number's name (one, two, three, four, etc.), and pips. Of course, a number's name and the symbol that represents it can differ from language to language, but pips can be understood universally. One dot for the number one, two dots for the number two, three dots for the number three, and so on and so forth. They are not, however, always practical. You could never fit twenty pips on the twenty side of a standard-size d20 (twenty-sided die)! 

Pip is also a chipmunk from the movie Enchanted. Twenty of those Pips would also be completely impractical. Even Alvin and the Chipmunks didn't go that far. 

This page is part of our Answers to Oddly Specific Questions series.