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Originally Posted by Tbirde Interesting, the differences in European and American notations, such as billion/milliard, trillion/billion, etc. OT:how did these diifferent systems get started, part ways and why were they never reconciled? |
OK, here is an entry from a book put out by the team that does the Oxford English Dictionary called
Questions of English. The book is set up like an FAQ of the English language:
Q: (paraphrased) Why do Americans use billion when they mean 'a thousand million' (the questioner was apparently annoyed by this word)
"A: the American word 'billion' is undoubtedly here to stay, and the French term 'millard' for 'a thousand million' has never achieved any real currency in English. Once businessmen and journalists found themselves discussing 'thousand millions' so frequently the American system simply became more convenient, despite any lack of logical tidiness; and it makes profits and budgets sound more impressive! It is now the standard usage in British government publications, and is rapidly establishing itself as the norm in other European languages too. One minor advantage in the American system is the ease of expression of larger numbers without repeating 'thousand' all the time. The higher numbers work like this:
--------------------------------------
American-------------
British
----------10 to the 12th power-----trillion-------------billion
----------10 to the 15th power-----quadrillion---thousand billion
----------10 to the 18th power-----quintillion---------trillion
----------10 to the 21st power-----sextillion-----thousand trillion
----------10 to the 24th power-----septillion--------quadrillion
----------10 to the 27th power-----octillion------thousand quadrillion
----------10 to the 30th power-----nonillion---------quintillion
----------10 to the 33rd power-----decillion-----thousand quintillion"
I'm sure I just violated copyright laws there, but oh well. I guess the answer is that they are at least starting to use the American system in the UK, and it is easy to see that a common system would certainly be needed. How confusing is this? Can you imagine, say, astronomers trying to have a conversation about light years or whatever the heck astronomers talk about? What a mess!
And I hope you appreciate me, because getting that table to be formatted right was a PAIN IN THE BUTT!!!! :wink:
