The genesis of the "American" billion comes from Renaissance scholars in France and Italy. It is not, however, true to say that it is a matter of convenience, since the long scale contains a number equivalent to the "American" billion, the milliard.You will hear a billion refered to as a yard in money markets, as a slang term that is derived from "milliard."
Even more entertainingly a thousand long-scale billions are called a billiard.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
Re: ones / thousands / millions / billions / trillions
Date: 2006-01-29 04:05 pm (UTC)Even more entertainingly a thousand long-scale billions are called a billiard.