When I was learning the American system, we simply were taught that it was million, billion, trillion, quadrillion, quintillion, and so forth - based on counting millions, apparently, with that first one as some kind of odd one. Interesting how those early trained-in memories seem "natural" until someone points out that they have little rhyme or reason to them, isn't it?
The Japanese system does indeed have another factor of 10,000, but it is used infrequently enough that I can't remember it off the top of my head (since I learned the language as an adult, I have holes in my knowledge - sometimes gaping ones!).
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ninetydegrees
no subject
2007-02-02 00:37 (UTC)When I was learning the American system, we simply were taught that it was million, billion, trillion, quadrillion, quintillion, and so forth - based on counting millions, apparently, with that first one as some kind of odd one. Interesting how those early trained-in memories seem "natural" until someone points out that they have little rhyme or reason to them, isn't it?
The Japanese system does indeed have another factor of 10,000, but it is used infrequently enough that I can't remember it off the top of my head (since I learned the language as an adult, I have holes in my knowledge - sometimes gaping ones!).