What’s a few zeros between friends?

One of the many ways that Britain has become more Americanised is in the definition and use of numerical terminology. When I was in school I was taught that a billion was one million million. The American billion, however, has always been a lot less - a mere one thousand million. I won’t bore you with the details, (you can look it up if you’re really interested), but it’s all to do with whether you adopt the ‘long scale’ or the ’short scale’. Britain used the short scale and America used the long scale. Read more

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