If this Wikipedia article is correct, the British quit using "British usage" in 1974, and it appears most English-speaking nations have followed. That leaves only non-English-speakers using words "similar to" billion, milliard, et al (those foreign words generally have slight spelling differences). Apart from that, hodge-podge seems a good description.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_and_short_scales Since the British have abandoned them, I think in English, milliard, billiard, et al are obsolete English words with fuzzy meaning, although related words exist in other languages. The short scale has a simpler relation to metric, although you have to recognize the terms progressively add three zeroes (like prefix progress), but to a number already in thousands. --- On Tue, 9/27/11, Bill Hooper <[email protected]> wrote: From: Bill Hooper <[email protected]> Subject: [USMA:51171] Fwd: 10^12 vs 10^18 RE: Re: A trillion dollars, give or take To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> Date: Tuesday, September 27, 2011, 7:59 PM * I really don't know what parts of the world use the British meanings of trillion, etc. and which use the American meanings. Is there any general pattern, or is it a hodge podge.
