why is the US million different to the UK million?

Question

Isn't one a thousand x thousand and the other a hundred x thousand?

Thanks to those correcting me about the fact it's a billion that's different. I meant no intention of allowing people to insult others from different countries due to any differences and to the one that said the asker isn't all there well I have taken this personally and see this as an insult. But thank you to those with genuine responses, help and answers.

Answer 1

the millions are the same, its a billion thats technically different. A US billion is 1,000,000,000 - a thousand million
UK billion is 1,000,000,000,000 - a million million

Despite this, even in the UK we generally use the US definition, i.e. a billion is equal to a thousand million.

Answer 2

Both are same.

(Short scale is the English translation of the French term échelle courte, which designates a system of numeric names in which the word billion means a thousand millions.

Long scale is the English translation of the French term échelle longue, which designates a system of numeric names in which the word billion means a million millions.

For most of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the United Kingdom uniformly used the long scale, while the United States of America used the short scale, so the two systems were often (and accurately at that time) referred to as "British" and "American" usage, respectively. However, today the United Kingdom uses the short scale so widely that the term "British usage" is no longer an appropriate phrase.

Both systems have been used in France at various times in history, but France has now settled with the long scale, in common with most other European countries.)

Answer 3

No, a million is the same in the US and the UK. However, a billion and all higher numbers are different. In the US, you name a number with n groups of 3 zeroes by using the Latin root related to the number n - 1. For example, 1,000,000,000,000 has four groups of three zeroes. Four less one is three, so we in the US call it a trillion, using the root tri for three. In the UK, you name a number with n groups of 6 zeroes by using the Latin root for n. The same number, 1,000,000,000,000, has two groups of six zeroes, so it's called a billion in the UK, using the root bi for two. As you can see, any given name (beyond a million) describes a larger number in the UK than it does in the US. The number we call a billion, 1,000,000,000, is usually called a thousand million in the UK because they don't have standard names for numbers with odd numbers of groups of three zeroes. However, these numbers are sometimes named by using the suffix "iard." So a thousand million can be called a milliard and a thousand billion can be called a billiard. But use of these terms is not universal in the UK.

Answer 4

Us Million

Answer 5

NO
There used to be a difference with billions though
US Billion 1,000,000,000 (One thousand Million)
Old UK Billion: 1,000,000,000,000 (One million million) it hasn't been used for a long time
New UK Billion: 1,000,000,000 (The US Billion)

Answer 6

A million in the US and the UK is the same.

You are confusing this with the billion. In the US a billion is 1,000 millions. In the UK and europe this is a milliard, while a billion is 1,000,000 millions.

Answer 7

This is because the last 3 zeros fell off while they were travelling across the Atlantic ocean.

By the way, this is not the only difference in US/UK perception of things. Just learn to live with it and when in the UK, 9 zeros, in the US, 12 zeros.

Answer 8

A million is and always will be 1000 x 1000, no matter what (wrong) interpretation the Americans want to put on it. Despite some answers here I am English and I NEVER use any American calculation if it's avoidable.

Answer 9

because Americans are more consistent...
thousand = thousand times one
million = thousand times thousand
billion = thousand times million
trillion = thousand times billion...

In UK a million is 100 times thousand and then a billion is something really weird... Kinda like their old monetary system, i think a guinea was a pound and five pence.... where the heck did they get that from???

Ah, good to hear at least the UK million is right, guess the asker wasn't altogether there....

Answer 10

They're the same. In theory, the US and UK Billions are different. Supposedly in the US a billion is 1k * 1mill, and in the UK its 1mill * 1mill.

Doesn't seem to be different though as otherwise Bill Gates isn't as rich in the UK as he is in the US and we all know he's minted anyway.