Billions

[Rev. Green]

We've lost the battle for billions, trillions, etc. to be sensibly ten to the sixth, twelfth, etc.
Let's use them as ten to the sixth, ninth, etc. That way it is easy to work out that an octillion (say) is ten to the twenty-four (24 = 8 x 3).
Of course, million is then redundant and there will be years of confusion, but we've had confusion already and the current use of billion made milliard redundant.

[Rev. Green]

That should have been "millions, billions, trillions to be ten to the sixth, twelfth ..."

[jake-the-peg]

Does it matter?

Grown up scientists use standard form anyway

[rov1200]

Some of us are still confused by the difference in the US and UK billions. I believe they may have equalized now?

[factor-fiction]

Sorry reverend, but I've never experienced confusion between US and UK billions. I've been around since the late 1950s and I've never used (or seen used) the old English billion (10 to the power 12) in any scientific, economics or mathematical contexts.

[rov1200]

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/page/114

[wildwood]

Surely the present method is much better! When you get to the larger numbers in the old English system you loose sanity.

Much the same with the decimal systems, shillings, dozens and gallons may be romantic but are a bu@@er to use in calculations. (Yes I still need to convert a car's petrol usage to MPG to get a true sense of rate but for the next generations it will be easier).

More uniformity worldwide has to be good.

[Rev. Green]

I'm greatly in favour of the decimal system and uniformity, but I also like common sense. Can you instantly tell me the number of zeros in an octillion? If it isn't 24 (three eights) or 48 (six eights) the system is illogical. After all, we know November is the eleventh month because novem means ... ummm...nine!

[jake-the-peg]

I've never heard anybody use an Octillion.

I can tell you the number of zeros in "2 point 5 times ten to the 27"

We shouldn't need these sorts of numbers - when you run out of breath you change the units.

Nobody measures a kitchen worktop in kilometers or a country in milimeters.

The only place that we run into problems really is in currency.

I suggest we adopt the same solution.

The UK GDP is now 2.1 TerraDollars

Job done!

[R1Geezer]

yes jake is correct, no one seriously relies on those terms they are used by the media, standard form is used in science, engineering and maths. I think you are solving a non problem here rev.

[chakka35]

You will always get disagreement when you try to change the meaning of a word when its true meaning is built into its structure. To do that is to distort logic.

A BI-llion is, by definition, a million to the second power (not to the one-and-a-halfth power as the US would have it); a TRI-llion is a milllion to the third power (not to the second); a QUADR-illion is a million to the fourth power (not to the two-and-a-halfth)....and so on.

Those who advocate the meanings in brackets are presumably happy to call a velocipede with two wheels a tricycle, a human being a quadruped, a horse a biped and three babies born at the same time twins.

[mibn2cweus]

I think it all went south with the 'million' . . . shoulda been thousand, bithousand, trithousand etc . . .
Actually, thousand shoulda been kilion and million shoulda been megaon.
What does million mean anyways . . . one-thousandth of a milliard? And then, what's an 'ard'?