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Subject:Re: mail delivery error From:John Posada <jposada -at- NOTES -dot- CC -dot- BELLCORE -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 15 Jan 1996 07:19:52 -0500
The recent terabyte discussion reminded me of a question I've
been meaning to ask:
In older British usage, a billion was sometimes a million million
rather than a thousand million.
Is that still true, so that the word "billion" may mean different
things to different readers? If so, how do you deal with large
numbers in materials to be used in different English-speaking
countries?
Stan...
I often write proposals that need to use millions and billions. It's true that
a billion sometimes means something different in international situations.
To avoid this problem, the first time I use a figure that is in the millions or
billions, I'll attach a footnote and in that footnote, I'll place the following:
1,000,000 = one million = one thousand thousand
1,000,000,000 = one billion = one thousand million
It's always worked for me.
John Posada
Technical Writer
Bell Communications Research, Piscataway, NJ
(908) 699-5839 (W)
jposada -at- notes -dot- cc -dot- bellcore -dot- com (W)
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