Subject:
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Re: Fw: Space Shuttle Costs
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.robotics
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Date:
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Tue, 15 Dec 1998 20:50:08 GMT
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Original-From:
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Benjamin Bennett <bbennett@{NoSpam}kenan.com>
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Viewed:
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1267 times
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From the Oxford English Dictionary:
billion [pronunciation deleted since it does not map to ascii]
[a. F. billion, purposely formed in 16th c. to denote the second power of a
million (by substituting bi- prefix2 for the initial letters), trillion and
quadrillion being similarly formed to denote its 3rd and 4th powers. The name
appears not to have been adopted in Eng. before the end of the 17th c.: see
quot. from Locke. Subsequently the application of the word was changed by French
arithmeticians, figures being divided in numeration into groups of threes,
instead of sixes, so that F. billion, trillion, denoted not the second and third
powers of a million, but a thousand millions and a thousand thousand millions.
In the 19th century, the U.S. adopted the French convention, but Britain
retained the original and etymological use (to which France reverted in 1948).
Since 1951 the U.S. value, a thousand millions, has been increasingly used in
Britain, especially in technical writing and, more recently, in journalism; but
the older sense ‘a million millions’ is still common.]
1. orig. and still commonly in Great Britain: A million millions. (= U.S.
trillion.)
1690 Locke Hum. Und. ii. xvi. §6 But to show how much distinct names conduce to
our well reckoning, let us see all these following figures in one continued
line:–
Nonillions Octillions .. Trillions Billions Millions Units
857324, 162486 .. 235421, 261734, 368149, 623137. The
ordinary way of naming this number in English, will be the often repeating of
millions of millions of millions, etc.
a1711 Ken Prepar. Poet. Wks. 1721 IV. 67 A Star..will run, Of Miles a Billion
round the Sun.
1778 Maseres in Phil. Trans. LXVIII. 897 A billion, or the square of a million.
1870 Proctor Other Worlds ix. 200 The aggregate weight of the various meteoric
systems..must be estimated by billions of tons.
2. In U.S., and increasingly in Britain: A thousand millions.
1834, etc.: see D.A.E.
1864 in Webster s.v. Numeration.
1983 Dict. Computing (O.U.P.) 156 Giga-,..a prefix indicating a multiple of one
billion, 109.
Now can we get back to Lego please?
-ben
Tom Rowton wrote:
> Would someone please enlighten those of us who clearly do not understand the
> number system that the rest of the world uses, what the difference is
> between 5,000,000,000 and 5 Billion? Or is the US the only country that
> recognises "billion" as a valid number? How about trillion?
>
> I am seriously interested - this is not a thinly veiled jab. I would really
> like to know, so hold the flamethrowers and let the information flow.
>
> Thanks in advance,
> trowt
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Pete Hardie <pete.hardie@dvsg.sciatl.com>
> To: lego-robotics@crynwr.com <lego-robotics@crynwr.com>
> Date: Tuesday, December 15, 1998 1:32 PM
> Subject: Re: Space Shuttle Costs
>
> Nick Taylor wrote:
> >
> > Dear Mr. Rawding - - -
> > To _most_ speakers of English 'five billion' does _not_ equal
> > 5,000,000,000.
>
> Can you point out some statistics that support this - I know that the
> British hold this view, but I wonder about Canadians, Aussies, Indians,
> etc.
>
> > Comments such as yours are what has given
> > rise to the "Ugly American" syndrome.
>
> Hey, it's our shuttle.
>
> and, BTW, 'Ugly American' syndrome is much more than simple word stuff,
> or should I ask the British where the 'f' in lieutenant is?
>
> --
> Pete Hardie | Goalie, DVSG Dart Team
> Scientific Atlanta |
> Digital Video Services Group |
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Fw: Space Shuttle Costs
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| Would someone please enlighten those of us who clearly do not understand the number system that the rest of the world uses, what the difference is between 5,000,000,000 and 5 Billion? Or is the US the only country that recognises "billion" as a (...) (26 years ago, 15-Dec-98, to lugnet.robotics)
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