Small rant about cosmetics' ads

[tanwo at hotmail.com]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., "Neil Ward" <neilward at d...> wrote:
>  As SMG is American, I was very careful to use the US version of
> a billion (1,000,000,000) rather than the rather outmoded British 
version
> (1,000,000,000,000): mathematicians, correct me if I'm wrong, but 
the UK now
> prefers 10(9), rather than 10(12) for a billion?
>

Correct - it is now officially 10**9 in the UK. Scientists have been 
using 10**9 for ages, it was just Joe Public that went with 10**12. 
If indeed they ever bothered to think about it - a billion is an 
awful lot and most people don't have that much of anything that 
they'd be interested in counting. And them that do, have other people 
to count it for them ...

There were a few letters about it in the Times last year when it was 
made "official". Retired Colonels from Chichester bemoaning the 
lowering of standards and the globalisation of language ...

Any bets on whether Bill Gates will ever become a trillionaire?


W