Poll: One Billion

[Distorted Stu]

So recently I have learnt that the UK and the US have diffrent defintions of 1 Billion.

In the UK, one billion is one million x million

In the US, one billion is 1000 x Million

I live in England and ive always thought of it as 1000 x M because it made sense to me.
Just wondering whats your view on one billion and did you know there were variations?

 

[ChocoFace]

12 zeroes for a billion? that's messed up.
1000 x million is the right way, of course.

 

[maninahat]

You think that's crazy? Go to China or India, and you'll find they do big numbers in groups of four, producing numbesr that look like this: 1,00,00,000 etc, as opposed to 10,000,000). Look up the Indian "Crore".

I like a million millions being a billion, but the change to the American sytem is sensible. If you think 1000 million=1 billion is wrong, then why are you okay with 10 hundreds making 1000? Shouldn't you want it to be 100 hundreds?

 

[Hader]

I never knew there was such a difference...interesting.

 

[Katherine Kerensky]

I've always thought of 1B as the US way >.>
But I'd much prefer to have £1B in the UK way >.>
UK way just seems overkill, but sometimes, overkill can be fun.

 

[Torrasque]

Um... no?
1 Billion = 1,000,000,000
1,000 x 1,000,000 = 1,000,000,000
1,000,000 x 1,000,000 = 1,000,000,000,000

So... A better question is, why is UK bad at math?

 

[JoJo]

Generally the 1000x has been adopted by most people even in countries like the UK where it didn't originally mean that simply for convience, especially in the scientific world where errors cannot be allowed.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

There's a difference? I literally didn't know that. Um...

The one without 12 zeros seems to be what we use.

Canadian here.

 

[Stasisesque]

So recently I have learnt that the UK and the US have diffrent defintions of 1 Billion.

In the UK, one billion is one million x million

In the US, one billion is 1000 x Million

I like in England and ive always thought of it as 1000 x M because it made sense to me.
Just wondering whats your view on one billion and did you know there were variations?

There is no variation anymore. There used to be, but it's since been rectified. A billion is a thousand million both here and across the pond.

 

[Palademon]

I prefer Billion to be a million million because after all, that's a stupid thing to say, so it needs a word, wheres with the other, why can't I just say a thousand million the same way as if I were to say a hundred million?

 

[maninahat]

Um... no?
1 Billion = 1,000,000,000
1,000 x 1,000,000 = 1,000,000,000
1,000,000 x 1,000,000 = 1,000,000,000,000

So... A better question is, why is UK bad at math?

You misunderstand how it works. That last one: 1,000,000 x 1,000,000 = 1,000,000,000,000 is a British Billion. We used t ocall the 1,000,000,000 "one thousand million". What is a "billion" or "a million" is arbitrary, and bears no relation to the actual numbers. There is nothing really stopping us from calling a hundred hundreds a thousand (100 x 100 = 10,000), instead of (10 x 100 = 1,000).

 

[Matt King]

So recently I have learnt that the UK and the US have diffrent defintions of 1 Billion.

In the UK, one billion is one million x million

In the US, one billion is 1000 x Million

I like in England and ive always thought of it as 1000 x M because it made sense to me.
Just wondering whats your view on one billion and did you know there were variations?

um dunno where ur getting this from but my old tai kwon doe instructor was also a banker (i live in uk) and in his bank a billion was 100x 1000 000

 

[Katherine Kerensky]

-Snip-

Wait, when did you become a mod? Or has my head been in the clouds again!?

You're imagining things.
Just like I am imagining that your avatar is no longer that weird Sonic thing >.>
We're all delusional.

OT: 1,000,000=1 million.
1,000,000,000=1 billion.

At least according to my education.

Incidentally, I was also taught that, and I am from Albion >.>

 

[BENZOOKA]

Billion[footnote]biljoona[/footnote] is million millions in Finland too.

 

[Ashcrexl]

hoh shit, that's confusing. i'm gonna have to remember this when i go to the UK.

question: what do UK-ers call 1,000,000,000?

 

[maninahat]

DOUBLE POST.

Have a free fact: Did you know that a strawberry is neither a fruit nor a vegetable? It is actually what is called a "psuedocarp" (aka "false fruit), because it has seeds on the outside of the flesh.

 

[Stasisesque]

hoh shit, that's confusing. i'm gonna have to remember this when i go to the UK.

question: what do UK-ers call 1,000,000,000?

No, you won't. As stated, a billion is a thousand million in the UK, it has been for some time. The OP is very much out of date.

 

[Lilani]

I looked it up on Wikipedia. Here is what they have to say about it.

Billion may refer to:

In numbers:

* Long and short scales
o 1,000,000,000 (number), one thousand million, 10^9, in the short scale (most common meaning)
o 1,000,000,000,000 (number), one million million, 10^12, in the long scale (seldom used in contemporary English)

So yes, it seems that a billion can refer to one million million, however it seems to be seldom used.