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> Or, you can ask why the American number system uses billion to mean 1e9 while in Europe it often means 1e12. I'm gonna stick up for the American system here,
by CydeWeys 7y ago
> Or, you can ask why the American number system uses billion to mean 1e9 while in Europe it often means 1e12.
I'm gonna stick up for the American system here, because if "billion" doesn't mean 1e9 then the only way you can say that number is "thousand million", which is terrible. The long scale just sucks.
- jeroenhd 7y agoNo, the way the UK used to say a thousand million is "milliard". You'll find that same term in a lot of European languages. Same with billiard, trilliard, etc. The short scale is just another reason why European and American data sources get confused every now and then. I find it kind of strange that the UK switched to the American system despite having used the long scale themselves for quite some time. I suppose it was just a consequence of the US media getting influence in Europe after World War 2, but it couldn't have been an easy switch.
- TomMarius 7y agoMilion - 1 000 000 Miliarda - 1 000 000 000 Bilion - 1 000 000 000 000 Biliarda... Trilion... (Czech, it's very painful to read translated articles BTW)