Billion, A (Real)

How Much Is It?

Author: Aaron Rice
Date: 1997/06/03
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The problem with the evolution of language is that a lot of people had their own go [1]. While this was fine when they were carefully developing their own language, it started to get a bit more confusing when different separated groups began working on the same one. This is, in fact, not true. The difficulty began when, some period of time later, the two groups began trying to communicate regularly again. The obvious problem arose when words came to mean something quite, but not exactly, similar, and nobody knew (or indeed knows) that they're not exactly the same thing.

There are few better examples to illustrate this than the word "Billion". It is unfortunate that this word has come to mean two different quantities. In America it is defined as One Thousand Million (1,000,000,000) [2], while in the UK is defined as One Million Million (1,000,000,000,000), which is one thousand times more.

Fortunately many people have standardised on the American definition [3], and so in most cases there aren't as many problems as there potentially could be. It can still be confusing, however, as the other is used intermittently, and without explanation.

As confusion continues, this can be used to the advantage of anyone looking to make a quick buck/quid at the expense of the unwhily. Basically, keep your ears open, and when someone says "billion", ask them exactly what they mean.

[1]	You have to continue reading the paragraph for this statement to be qualified totally. Don't be distracted by footnotes or anything else!
[2]	The American Billion (or One Thousand Million) is in the UK called One Thousand Million, surprisingly. The dictionary mentions that the word Milliard means the same thing, but no one really uses it.
[3]	Yes, I know someone had to pick one of them!

See also

• Americanitus