Re: Ada 9X Doc v5.99

[gauthier@unilim.fr (Michel Gauthier)]

In article <1995Jan27.145656@lglsun.epfl.ch>, nebbe@lglsun.epfl.ch (Robb
Nebbe) wrote:

> [...]
> 
> The US adopted the French system of naming large numbers (million = 10^6,
> billion = 10^9, trillion = 10^12 ...) only to have the French abandon
> it later to adopt the system used by Germany and England (million = 10^6,
> billion = 10^12, trillion = 10^18 ...).

In fact, we (the French) no longer use any such words, but often Mega and Giga
with their official meaning, and greater similar multipliers whenever
applicable,
which is not very frequent. And 10^9 is generally 'milliard', not
'billion', which 
I have never encountered.
 
> This leads one to ask the question: if the US had adopted the metric
> system would the French latter have changed to the English system? :-)

No idea, but we have yet to abandon the comma we use instead of
the decimal point. Almost as impossible to justify as the US position
about the Metric System.

-- 
Michel Gauthier - Laboratoire d'informatique - 123 avenue Albert Thomas
F-87060 Limoges - fax +33()55457315
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