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BGonline.org Forums
Large numbers -- OT
Posted By: Nack Ballard In Response To: Large numbers -- OT (Keene)
Date: Wednesday, 2 June 2010, at 5:20 a.m.
I grew up in Scotland, and I was taught that a billion is a thousand million. That was 20 years ago.
Apparently, the entire U.K. converted from long to short scale in 1974, just four years after I lived there. It was probably a reaction to my raised eyebrows :)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (footnotes omitted):
"The long and short scales are two of several different large number naming systems used throughout the world for integer powers of 10. Many countries, including most in continental Europe, use the long scale whereas most English-speaking countries use the short scale. In all such countries, the number names are translated into the local language, but retain a name similarity due to shared etymology.
Long scale is the English translation of the French term échelle longue. It refers to a system of names in which every new term greater than million is 1,000,000 times the previous term: billion means a million millions (10^12), trillion means a million billions (10^18), and so on. Short scale is the English translation of the French term échelle courte. It refers to a system of large number names in which every new term greater than million is 1,000 times the previous term: billion means a thousand millions (109), trillion means a thousand billions (10^12), and so on. Up to and including a hundred million (10^8), the two scales are identical. At and above a thousand million (10^9), the two scales not only diverge but use the same words for different number values. These false friends can be a source of misunderstanding.
For most of the 19th and 20th centuries, the United Kingdom uniformly used the long scale, while the United States of America used the short scale, so that usage of the two systems was often referred to as British and American respectively. In 1974, the government of the UK switched to the short scale, a change that is reflected in its mass media and official usage. Although some residual usage of the long scale continues in the UK, the phrases British usage and American usage are no longer accurate nor helpful characterizations.
The two systems can be a subject of controversy. Differences in opinion as to which system should be used can evoke resentment between adherents, while national differences of any kind can acquire jingoistic overtones.
Some languages, particularly in East Asia, have large number naming systems that are neither long nor short scale."
Nack
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