[plug] billion (was Unix Epoch: 1 billion seconds breakfast function.)

[Colin Muller]

On Mon, Sep 03, 2001 at 12:15:48PM +0800, John Knight wrote:
> I can see where you are coming from there but I do have a few hesitations. 
> Generally the words used have language roots that give meanings and if every 
> country except America and France officially use billion (10 to the power of 
> 12), I'd say that the word roots probably signify that it means 10 to 12 
> (that's the shorthand I'll use for now).

Roots and origins are shaky grounds on which to claim a word "should"
be used a certain way. However, if that is the basis on which you want
to settle this to your own satisfaction, the US sense is the one you
will accept, because:
1. English obtained the word "billion" from French (source: Concise
Oxford)
2. The earlier sense of the word in French is 10^9 (source: Petit
Robert)

Colin