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10^9 is the standard definition of a billion, it's very wrong to call 10^12 a "standard billion." You can say "long scale billion" if you want to refer to the d
by yetanotherjosh 2mo ago
10^9 is the standard definition of a billion, it's very wrong to call 10^12 a "standard billion." You can say "long scale billion" if you want to refer to the definitively non-standard 10^12 billion.
- Terr_ 2mo agoTo quibble/add-nuance: The words have diverged into a false-friend [0] situation. It looks like the same word, but the correct/standard meaning depends on which language is being used at the time. If someone is writing English and puts "billion" for 10^12, that's a translation error, much like writing "my grandfather became pregnant when he realized he'd locked the keys inside the car." (Instead of "embarrassed.") Conversely, if I wrote a French or German sentence and put "billion" for 10^9, then I'd be the one making the translation mistake. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_friend https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_friend
- yetanotherjosh 2mo agoYes, but we're speaking in English. If the definition of a same-sounding word changes in another language, it doesn't invalidate a point made within a language. It's fundamentally incorrect to say a standard billion is ever, in any modern context, 10^12, because we are speaking in English in 2026, and even the British mean 10^9 for the standard definition of a billion.
- happymellon 2mo agoIt's a shame as we used the correct definition for almost 300 years until the US pushed everyone to switch to their system. https://www.etymonline.com/word/billion https://www.etymonline.com/word/billion I would vote to revert it.