[ROLCAM]

This is a serious question!
What is the definition of a BILLION ?
Recently I gave an answer on AMHD and an American gave his unequivocal
Comment that I was wrong.
Why do these definitions differ ?

[hkstroud]

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


The long and short scales [1] are two of several different large number naming systems used throughout the world:

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 (from bi and million) means a million to the power of two or a million millions (1012), trillion (from tri and million) means a million to the power of three or a million billions (1018), 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 (1012), and so on.

There are other numbering systems which are neither long nor short scale such as the Chinese numbering system, the Indian numbering system, the Japanese numbering system, and the Korean numbering system. Many countries, including most in continental Europe, use the long scale.

For most of the 19th and 20th centuries, the United Kingdom uniformly used the long scale,[2] while the United States of America used the short scale,[2] 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.[3][4][5][6] Although some residual usage of the long scale continues in the UK,[7] the phrases British usage and American usage are no longer accurate nor helpful characterizations. The two systems can be a subject of misunderstanding or controversy.