3 ms·

M is not ambiguous at all it stands for mega which is 1e6 (which happens to be a million). Meters is lowercase m. And nobody uses Roman numerals as a suffix. M

M is not ambiguous at all it stands for mega which is 1e6 (which happens to be a million). Meters is lowercase m. And nobody uses Roman numerals as a suffix. MM is just unnecessary.

qeternity 4y ago
Well you're gonna be really disappointed to find out lots of people do use "mm" particularly in finance, and that Roman numerals have been used far longer than the SI system has existed. Just because you don't use them, or aren't aware they are used, does not make it unnecessary.
- programmer_dude 4y ago
  By unnecessary I meant the second M in MM is redundant (since M = Mega = 1e6 is enough). And yes I am disappointed, probably just as much as people's use of imperial units :) Edit:... >Roman numerals have been used far longer than the SI system has existed Indeed it has. But has its use as a suffix existed for just as long? BTW I am also disappointed that the people still use Roman numerals :) (also completely unnecessary, the Indo-Arabic number system is "better").
david_allison 4y ago
> An expense of $60,000 could be written as $60M. Internet advertisers are familiar with CPM which is the cost per thousand impressions. > The letter k is also used represent one thousand. For example, an annual salary of $60,000 might appear as $60k instead of $60M. [0] k and MM are unambiguous. You don't want to stop & think, and you definitely don't want to be off by a factor of 1000. So it makes sense to avoid typing 'M' if you have any risk of being misinterpreted. It's mostly about the reduction of risk, it's VERY rare to see M used in this way. [0] https://www.accountingcoach.com/blog/what-does-m-and-mm-stand-for https://www.accountingcoach.com/blog/what-does-m-and-mm-stan...
- programmer_dude 4y ago
  > An expense of $60,000 could be written as $60M This is unfortunate. $60,000 is $60K (capital K not k) using SI suffixes. Please reject M=1000 today.
  - david_allison 4y ago
    > Please reject M=1000 today. This is infeasible, and what does it mean to reject something in a written document? I don't understand what you're trying to accomplish here: you're arguing against an established convention in a sector of the market which you don't have experience with. The upside if you're successful is that I don't need to type an additional 'M'. The downside is that it requires enforcing a blanket standard on an industry, rather than letting it converge over time to an unambiguous standard.
    - programmer_dude 4y ago
      Help the convergence along by objecting to the use of M=1000 wherever you see it. We already have an unambiguous standard (it is the SI system of units and suffixes if you are unsure). People should be using it.
- bruce343434 4y ago
  As a European, I have never seen suffix M = 1000. It’s always a million. Is this one of those things America does different?
  - david_allison 4y ago
    It's inconsistent worldwide https://old.reddit.com/r/FinancialCareers/comments/usdr2d/lets_settle_this_millions_of_dollars_on_a/ https://old.reddit.com/r/FinancialCareers/comments/usdr2d/le...

M is not ambiguous at all it stands for mega which is 1e6 (which happens to be a million). Meters is lowercase m. And nobody uses Roman numerals as a suffix. MM is just unnecessary.

qeternity 4y ago

Well you're gonna be really disappointed to find out lots of people do use "mm" particularly in finance, and that Roman numerals have been used far longer than the SI system has existed. Just because you don't use them, or aren't aware they are used, does not make it unnecessary.

programmer_dude 4y ago
By unnecessary I meant the second M in MM is redundant (since M = Mega = 1e6 is enough). And yes I am disappointed, probably just as much as people's use of imperial units :) Edit:... >Roman numerals have been used far longer than the SI system has existed Indeed it has. But has its use as a suffix existed for just as long? BTW I am also disappointed that the people still use Roman numerals :) (also completely unnecessary, the Indo-Arabic number system is "better").

david_allison 4y ago

> An expense of $60,000 could be written as $60M. Internet advertisers are familiar with CPM which is the cost per thousand impressions. > The letter k is also used represent one thousand. For example, an annual salary of $60,000 might appear as $60k instead of $60M. [0] k and MM are unambiguous. You don't want to stop & think, and you definitely don't want to be off by a factor of 1000. So it makes sense to avoid typing 'M' if you have any risk of being misinterpreted. It's mostly about the reduction of risk, it's VERY rare to see M used in this way. [0] https://www.accountingcoach.com/blog/what-does-m-and-mm-stand-for https://www.accountingcoach.com/blog/what-does-m-and-mm-stan...

programmer_dude 4y ago
> An expense of $60,000 could be written as $60M This is unfortunate. $60,000 is $60K (capital K not k) using SI suffixes. Please reject M=1000 today.
- david_allison 4y ago
  > Please reject M=1000 today. This is infeasible, and what does it mean to reject something in a written document? I don't understand what you're trying to accomplish here: you're arguing against an established convention in a sector of the market which you don't have experience with. The upside if you're successful is that I don't need to type an additional 'M'. The downside is that it requires enforcing a blanket standard on an industry, rather than letting it converge over time to an unambiguous standard.
  - programmer_dude 4y ago
    Help the convergence along by objecting to the use of M=1000 wherever you see it. We already have an unambiguous standard (it is the SI system of units and suffixes if you are unsure). People should be using it.
bruce343434 4y ago
As a European, I have never seen suffix M = 1000. It’s always a million. Is this one of those things America does different?
- david_allison 4y ago
  It's inconsistent worldwide https://old.reddit.com/r/FinancialCareers/comments/usdr2d/lets_settle_this_millions_of_dollars_on_a/ https://old.reddit.com/r/FinancialCareers/comments/usdr2d/le...