Re: billions across the world in English
by Freda Lockert <freda(at)rlockert.easynet.co.uk>
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| Date: |
Thu, 29 Jun 2000 23:53:27 +0100 |
| To: |
hwg-basics(at)mail.hwg.org |
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>I've run across something: does a billion in US English mean the same
>thing as billion elsewhere.
>
>US billion:
>
>1,000,000,000
>
UK billion also = 1,000,000,000.
It didn't used to be so, we used to say 1,000,000,000,000 = 1 billion
(1 followed by 9 zeros was called 1 milliard). We changed years ago,
I think in the early 1980s, because most people took for granted our
billion was the same as the US (and French) number and it was
confusing.
Freda
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