400 billion systems - UK or US definition?

[Ulysses_W]

Even our own Government has stopped using billion as a million million, so it's safe to assume that a billion in this case is a thousand million

Hold on! Who gives a stuff what the government uses? It's our game, not thiers. A million million is fine by me.

 

[GIBSONJR]

It is a british game. Everybody on this planet knows how to use billion except the Americans.
So I guess the answer is simple - yes, there are that many out there in the great game Elite: Dangerous.
I wouldn´t call it british understatement exactly.

 

[Mad Matt]

It is a british game. Everybody on this planet knows how to use billion except the Americans.
So I guess the answer is simple - yes, there are that many out there in the great game Elite: Dangerous.
I wouldn´t call it british understatement exactly.

What are you talking about? I'm all for a little bit of national pride, but the British billion is exactly the same as the US billion, which is exactly the same as the French billion and pretty much every other country in the world's billion.

A thousand million as the definition of a billion has been common usage in the UK since the 1960s and has been official since the 1970s.

 

[Kitiara]

It was 400 billion stars, approximately 100 billion systems

 

[mono]

For some time we (UK) have gone along with the US billion, thus 1,000 million/1,000,000,000.

As per title, do they mean 400,000,000,000,000 (UK) or 400,000,000,000 (US) ?

Not that it makes much difference in reality, just curious!

 

[slipperysquid]

Well let's just put this out there. If some one where to give you a billion in cash, which would you prefer? English or American. I rest my case

 

[FoxTwo]

The hell? There is a difference between number definitions in the two countries? Man we really are sheltered from the rest of the world over here in the states.

In China, when they say "1 million" in Mandarin (or any of the 600 Chinese dialects), they really mean "10,000".

Wrap your head around that

 

[Ericksson]

thought that the uk officially used the short scale billion now! wasn't it something blair implemented? could be wrong, but if not, i admire and support any stalwarts insisting on the continued usage of the, correct, large scale!

I completely missed that memo! I've always thought it was the UK billion, not the far smaller US billion.

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I always laugh at films where the bad guy goes 'I want a million. US.' If he went a for million sterling he'd have 1.5 million US.

Well let's just put this out there. If some one where to give you a billion in cash, which would you prefer? English or American. I rest my case

 

[Mad Matt]

I completely missed that memo! I've always thought it was the UK billion, not the far smaller US billion.

Seriously this passed you by? I don't want to appear ageist here but my rough calculations suggest that to have been taught in school that in the UK a billion was a million million without exception then you'd have to have been born in the 1940s. Nothing wrong with that of course, but I presume you got the memo about decimal currency and adapted to that ok?

 

[GorgonTMP]

Not all the world uses English, in my country and lot of others there is a milliard proper number.

 

[r4nger0]

Since we're on this numbers topic, does anyone remember the time when someone said google they actually meant googol?

 

[Taomyn]

I'm all for the UK using billion as "a thousand million", it makes the French use of the words "milliard for billion" and "billion for trillion" even more confusing and I that's excellent in my book.

 

[Polared]

Waaaay before Blair - the "short billion" has been official UK use since Harold Wilson.

Anyone who believes the UK uses a million million as it's definition of a billion likely also believes we use pounds, shillings and pence, as both are equally historic.

i stand corrected, and i have no excuse for age or lack thereof, either : )

at school i was always taught the long scale version, but always used the metric for measurements, still can't really picture how long a yard is in my head : )

p.s. but we still do use pounds don't we? i've just had to pay more than i'd ike changing these bloody euros to real money for when i come back home next week : (
first time back in the UK for seven years \o/

 

[Antigonos]

The hell? There is a difference between number definitions in the two countries? Man we really are sheltered from the rest of the world over here in the states.

you didnt know that? good that you are not a billionaire

 

[Belisarius]

I think it was based on 1 thousand thousands = 1 million (1+6 zeros)
1 million millions = 1 billion (1 + 12 zeros)
so 1 billion billions = 1 trillion (1 + 24 zeros)
in old English money.... (could be wrong though)

Actually no ... the correct way (with other words, the way that the US and UK don´t use) is to count by the number of millions

1 Million = 10^6
1 Milliard = 10^9
1 Billion = 10^12
1 Billiard = 10^15
1 Trillion = 10^18
1 Trilliard = 10^21
1 Quadrillion = 10^24
and so on

 

[Viking84]

Actually no ... the correct way (with other words, the way that the US and UK don´t use) is to count by the number of millions

1 Million = 10^6
1 Milliard = 10^9
1 Billion = 10^12
1 Billiard = 10^15
1 Trillion = 10^18
1 Trilliard = 10^21
1 Quadrillion = 10^24
and so on

The difference between Europe and the UK in this matter has always had me confused, anyone know why it ended up like this? In Norway and the rest of mainland Europe I believe we use the terms as quoted from Belisarius

 

[Steve50]

thought that the uk officially used the short scale billion now! wasn't it something blair implemented? could be wrong, but if not, i admire and support any stalwarts insisting on the continued usage of the, correct, large scale!

It sucks that we always bow down to the yanks version of things (no offence intended for any Americans on here). our politicians are spineless yes men.

 

[Toran]

According to Wikipedia the actual count of stars in the Milky Way is estimated at 200–400 billion (3×10¹¹ ±1×10¹¹).

 

[GorgonTMP]

The difference between Europe and the UK in this matter has always had me confused, anyone know why it ended up like this? In Norway and the rest of mainland Europe I believe we use the terms as quoted from Belisarius

Because US English always tends to to simplify things (armor instead of armour etc.)

 

[Muadiib]

Try being anywhere else in the world and being confronted with gallons, the US and British measure of each is different as well. Use litres like everyone else you neanderthals so questions like 'which bloody gallon do they mean?' can end.

Implying Neanderthals were less smart than humans makes you look less smart than humans