[net.nlang] billion

kdh (02/23/83)

Something in a previous article jogged my memory and curiosity:

What is the difference between an "American billion" and a
"non-American billion" ??

American billion == a thousand million (1,000,000,000,000) (I think)
non-American billion == ?????

					Kevin Hunter
					houti!kdh

danny (02/24/83)

US: billion = 1000 million
    trillion = 1000 billion
    etc

many other countries:
    billion = 1,000,000 million
    trillion = 1,000,000 billion
    etc

For ex., you'll hear the British refer to the population of the
  world as four thousand million while Americans say four billion

gh (02/24/83)

The U.S. billion is 10^9, trillion = 10^12 etc.
British billion = 10^12, trillion = 10^18 etc
The Germans follow the British; the American system was based on the French,
but now the French have changed to follow the British, leaving the U.S. out
of steop with the rest of the world (as the usual in all matters of units
and measures).  The entry at "number" in Webster's New Collegiate gives
all this and more, including numbers up to centillion.  Also of interest
is Webster's second definition of "billion" -- "a very large number".

palmer (02/24/83)

	One American Billion = one thousand million = 10**9 = 1,000,000,000
			(I think this is called a milliard in Britain)
	British Billion = one million million = 10**12 = 1,000,000,000,000
			(what Americans call a trillion)

	What is a British trillion, 10**18?

	Physical scientists get around this by sing prefixes:
		a gigabuck = $10**9 , about the price of a third of a
				bare-bones aircraft carrier
		a terrabuck = $10**12 , about the size of the U.S. national
				debt.

		David Palmer

ddd (02/24/83)

American billion = one thousand million (= 1,000,000,000,
                                       not 1,000,000,000,000)

Non-American (English) billion = 1 million million
                                        (= 1,000,000,000,000)

---Dilip D'Souza (brunix!ddd)

csc (02/24/83)

A British (Imperial?) Billion is a Million Million (10^12) whereas an
"American" Billion is a thousand million (10^9).

Sorry about capitalizing "Billion" and "Million"...
-jan
...watmath!csc

dje (02/25/83)

Incidentally, there is a European word corresponding to the American
billion (10**9) -- the word is "milliard" in England and has cognates in
French and German.
			Dave Ellis
			Bell Labs, Piscataway
			...harpo!npoiv!npois!houxm!5941ux!dje

debray (02/26/83)

an American billion = a thousand million (1 E 9),
a "non-American" (English) billion = a million million (1 E 12)
		(as far as I can remember).

Anonymous (02/28/83)

#R:watmath:-463500:whuxlb:4800002:000:54
whuxlb!Anonymous    Feb 28 09:46:00 1983

The big question is how much is a Sagan biiiiillion?

dave (03/01/83)

Then, of course, there's the Canadian billion, which is somewhere
in between the American billion and the British billion. We usually
value it at about $500,000,000,000.

		Not afraid to fan the flames
			Dave Sherman
			Toronto