Yield Basis

You need cash money to live on. You need bond interest. Safe interest. So you call your broker and say, "Buddy, I have 10 grand to invest...what do I get for it?" And your broker quotes you, "Well, Fuddy, I have a four-seventy-nine here and a four-eighty-two with a bit shorter duration...either of those grab you?"

The broker is quoting you the bonds on a yield basis...meaning that you, as a buyer of a stream of cash flows from that bond...only care about the flows, or the yield that your 10 grand can produce. So the 479 number means that you'd get some $479 each year for your bond-y troubles, at least on that yield basis.