Search:

Tricky Words in this week‘s OV

Tricky Words in this week‘s OV

Large numbers in English and Slovak. Up until fairly recently British English and Slovak usages were in agreement that a million was ten to the power of six (106), a milliard was ten to the power of nine (109), and a billion was ten to the power of twelve (1012).

This is called the “long scale” definition. American English usage was in agreement with the French, in that a million is (106), a billion is (109) and a trillion is (1012), which is based on the “short scale” definition. By the 1970s, however, the economic and financial links between the UK and USA were strong enough to make the UK Parliament decide in 1974 to harmonize the numbers, so that a billion would mean a thousand million in Britain as well. So a billion in English (AmE and BrE) now means miliarda in Slovak, and the Slovak bilión is now a trillion in English. Nobody is sure how big a squillion or a gazillion are, but we might soon have to learn.

More articles

Joint Statement

After Meeting Between Government of Slovakia Representatives And Senior Executives of Nippon Steel Corporation / U. S. Steel Košice, February 9, 2024 at 3pm JST

COMMUNITY PROJECTS BRING A VISIBLE CHANGE

On April 18, 2023, the company U. S. Steel Košice announced the names of organizations and projects that will receive support under its Together for the Region 2023 grant program.

Privacy policy settings

We use cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. More info...