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15:23 Oct 16, 2002
English to English translations [PRO]
English term or phrase:abbreviations for thousand, million, etc.
i've always thought that it wasn't right to write "mln." for "million" or "th." for "thousand", but could never explain why. could somebody please tell me what is the rule here: is it at all acceptable to abbreviate numbers? (e.g. "K" for "thousand")?...
Explanation: K is certainly okay as a standard abbreviation for 1000, but I would say it depends on the context. In financial texts (but not in contracts or formal legal documents etc), and in computer related areas it is a common used abbreviation. Rule of thumb - it's okay when talking about money US$10K, or bytes, but not about everyday things or people.
Then you have standard idioms such as Y2K...
As for million and billion, perhaps mln and bln are more used in the US, I'm not sure (I've noticed that these are the abbreviations often used by Russian translators), but for UK use, mn and bn are much more common. Again I would say that would most really be used in financial contexts.
Zmeika, I found this site a while back and stored it for future reference, it might be of use. Doesn't talk specifically about hundreds and thousands, but has lots of other standard abbreviations for units of all sorts that are used in science (but some will also be relevant to, for example, business etc).
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 2002-10-16 15:43:07 (GMT) --------------------------------------------------
I\'d also say that, if you can get hold of a copy, the Economist produces (or at least they used to) a guide to English journalistic style and usage. They would certainly give a more authoratitive explanation than I can.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 2002-10-16 15:47:43 (GMT) --------------------------------------------------
You could also clarify things by putting them in base 10 or base 2
e.g. 10 (to the power X) in base X
Generally numbers go by the rule of Roman prefixes:
Power / Name / Abbr
24 Yotta- Y
21 Zetta- Z
18 Exa- E
15 Peta- P
12 Tera- T
9 Giga- G
6 Mega- M
3 Kilo- K
2 Hecto- H
1 Deca- D
-1 deci- d
-2 centi- c
-3 milli- m
-6 micro- µ
-9 nano- n
-12 pico- p
-15 femto- f
-18 atto- a
-21 zepto- z
-24 yocto- y
Explanation: Is K for thousand? k is for kilogram. Is K for 1024 in a computer sense, or is it degrees Kelvin of temperature?
M is mega, is that one million in a computer sense? Or is it just one million?
I would recommend that you buy a style guide, such as the Chicago Manual of Style (if in the USA==see the link) or whatever is most common in your area. These standard references seem to cover most questions like this.
Explanation: K is certainly okay as a standard abbreviation for 1000, but I would say it depends on the context. In financial texts (but not in contracts or formal legal documents etc), and in computer related areas it is a common used abbreviation. Rule of thumb - it's okay when talking about money US$10K, or bytes, but not about everyday things or people.
Then you have standard idioms such as Y2K...
As for million and billion, perhaps mln and bln are more used in the US, I'm not sure (I've noticed that these are the abbreviations often used by Russian translators), but for UK use, mn and bn are much more common. Again I would say that would most really be used in financial contexts.
Zmeika, I found this site a while back and stored it for future reference, it might be of use. Doesn't talk specifically about hundreds and thousands, but has lots of other standard abbreviations for units of all sorts that are used in science (but some will also be relevant to, for example, business etc).
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 2002-10-16 15:43:07 (GMT) --------------------------------------------------
I\'d also say that, if you can get hold of a copy, the Economist produces (or at least they used to) a guide to English journalistic style and usage. They would certainly give a more authoratitive explanation than I can.
Explanation: m = million
M = Mega (as in Mbyte)
K = thousand (following number 5K
k = kilo
We have had several letters along similar lines. The overall response is supported by members of The Computer Bulletin advisory panel, who were not consulted before the publication of Michael Bangham's letter and the footnote. This has brought a decision to use the standard of a lower case k for kilo and capital M, G, T and so on for mega, giga, tera and so on, when these are used in truncated form, such as Mbyte, Gbyte. Lower case letters are used when the words are spelt out in full (megabyte and so on). A lower case m will be used as shorthand for a million, as in £10m. All these abbreviations are confirmed by the Oxford Dictionary for Scientific Writers and Editors.
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