Translation of milliard

Question

Until 1974 the English of translation of 'un milliard' would have been one thousand million (otherwise known in English as 'a milliard'), an English billion being one million million. The Americans being more inclined to exaggeration used Billion to mean 1,000 million, this has now been generally accepted throughout the world. see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billion for more background

Accepted Answer

Hi Robert, 
In France, 1 milliard has 9 zeros -
1 000 000 000
which I believe is the equivalent to a UK billion, nowadays.
See the article I found which reiterates this -
http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/campaigning/past-campaigns/budget/how-much-is-a-billion.html

Answer

The Plain English article actually states that the UK government now uses the American version of billion. So I think that, at the very least, the lesson should provide the figure alongside the word, to avoid confusion. Especially as there are other lessons where US English has been used e.g. I live on rue Pasteur (British English is I live in rue Pasteur), and center rather than centre.

Answer

The Plain English article actually states that the UK government now uses the American version of billion. So I think that, at the very least, the lesson should provide the figure alongside the word, to avoid confusion. Especially as there are other lessons where US English has been used e.g. I live on rue Pasteur (British English is I live in rue Pasteur), and center rather than centre.