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billion UK

Spanish translation: "milliard for Europe, billion for the US (esp. US$d)"

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:billion UK
Spanish translation:"milliard for Europe, billion for the US (esp. US$d)"
Entered by: Сергей Лузан

15:27 Jun 7, 2002
English to Spanish translations [Non-PRO]
Finance (general)
English term or phrase: billion UK
Hola, alguien que viva en UK que me confirme...... es un billion alli un millon de millones o mil millones como aqui en Estados Unidos???
MIGUEL JIMENEZ
Local time: 20:45
"milliard for Europe, billion for the US"
Explanation:
It's thousand millions. But as soon as the talks are on US$s, even Germans use B's (billions of US$d).
I know it from international finance, where I used to work.
Re.1. The Random House Dictionary, ISBN 0-394-51200-6.
2. Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English by A. S. Hornby ISBN 0 19 431101 5.
+ my own experince.


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Note added at 2002-06-07 15:51:23 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Milliard (GB) = Billion (US)
Re. : (From Oxford Advanced Learner\'s Dictionary of Current English by A. S. Hornby ISBN 0 19 431101 5. )
GB & Europe consider million of millions as one billion
(Ibid.)
Selected response from:

Сергей Лузан
Russian Federation
Local time: 03:45
Grading comment
Graded automatically based on peer agreement. KudoZ.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
5 +8"milliard for Europe, billion for the US"
Сергей Лузан
5 +2billón
Antonio Costa (X)
5 +1(en teoría sólo) es un millón de millones...
Elena Miguel
4 +2billón
Massimo Gaido
5 +1más información
Margaret Schroeder
4a thousand million
Ana Cicconi
41 000 000 000; one thousand million(s).
julitravel


  

Answers


2 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +1
(en teoría sólo) es un millón de millones...


Explanation:
...pero en la práctica será mejor que esperes a que alguien que viva actualmente en el Reion Unido te confirme cuál es la práctica actual.

En principio, ya te digo, el billón británico era igual que el español (un millón de millones), mientras que el americano eran mil millones, por eso en español se "inventó" la palabra "millardo", que traduce el billón americano.

Suerte!

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Note added at 2002-06-07 15:34:43 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Se me acaba de ocurrir, pero si tienes la oportunidad de contactar con el autor del texto directamente le puedes preguntar (explicándole el problema que existe) qué significado le ha dado exactamente a \"billion\" en su texto, yo lo he hecho alguna vez.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2002-06-07 15:40:16 (GMT)
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Se me acaba de ocurrir, pero si tienes la oportunidad de contactar con el autor del texto directamente le puedes preguntar (explicándole el problema que existe) qué significado le ha dado exactamente a \"billion\" en su texto, yo lo he hecho alguna vez.

Elena Miguel
Spain
Local time: 02:45
Specializes in field
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Сергей Лузан: Billion for GB & other Europeans countries only. See my answer below. US trillion in your case.
2 days 19 hrs
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3 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
a thousand million


Explanation:
Though I am not British

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2002-06-07 15:36:02 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Busqué en el Oxford Advanced L Dictionary and it says:
(British) one million million(s)
US on thousand million
So my answer is not correct
Sorry


Ana Cicconi
Local time: 21:45
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Сергей Лузан: Correct for the US only (& $ as well). See my answer below.
2 days 19 hrs
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7 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
billón


Explanation:
ciao,
M.

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Note added at 2002-06-07 15:36:21 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Andalucia
La Junta invertirá un billón de pesetas hasta 2006 en modernizar la agricultura
La Junta de Andalucía prevé una inversión cercana al billón de pesetas (6.010,12 millones de euros) hasta 2006 para impulsar la modernización de la agricultura andaluza ygarantizar el adecuado aprovechamiento de los fondos europeos del Marco Comunitario de Apoyo 2000-2006, según se indica en el documento Iniciativa Agraria de la Consejería de Agricultura y Pesca
http://www.agroactualidad.com/010901/noticia.asp?ref=004

Massimo Gaido
United States
Local time: 19:45
Native speaker of: Native in ItalianItalian

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Leonardo Parachú: exacto, o 1 millón de millones, pero billón es la respuesta
3 mins
agree  Сергей Лузан: For Europe. See my answer below.
2 days 19 hrs
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10 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +2
billón


Explanation:
o sea 10E12 (en UK). Mil millones seria 10E9

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Note added at 2002-06-07 15:40:11 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

sorry: 1E12 and 1E9



Antonio Costa (X)

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Leonardo Parachú: ajá
30 mins
  -> Gracias Leonardo
neutral  Hans Gärtner: jeje, sobra la corrección, 1E9 = 1 y 1E12 también
6 hrs
  -> I give up for today Hans. The site is all yours!
agree  Сергей Лузан: For Europe. See my answer below. But not if we talk on US$d.
2 days 19 hrs
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19 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +8
"milliard for Europe, billion for the US"


Explanation:
It's thousand millions. But as soon as the talks are on US$s, even Germans use B's (billions of US$d).
I know it from international finance, where I used to work.
Re.1. The Random House Dictionary, ISBN 0-394-51200-6.
2. Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English by A. S. Hornby ISBN 0 19 431101 5.
+ my own experince.


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2002-06-07 15:51:23 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Milliard (GB) = Billion (US)
Re. : (From Oxford Advanced Learner\'s Dictionary of Current English by A. S. Hornby ISBN 0 19 431101 5. )
GB & Europe consider million of millions as one billion
(Ibid.)

Сергей Лузан
Russian Federation
Local time: 03:45
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in RussianRussian
PRO pts in category: 46
Grading comment
Graded automatically based on peer agreement. KudoZ.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Mirelluk
11 mins
  -> Gracias & Thanx.
agree  MikeGarcia: From somebody who also used to work in International Banking and Finance.
16 mins
  -> Oh, I see. Gracias & Thanx.
agree  Elena Miguel
20 mins
  -> Gracias & Thanx.
agree  Egmont
1 hr
  -> Gracias, Alberto, opr tu constante apoyo. Creo que encontraremos muchas vecez en muchas lenguas.
agree  Aurora Humarán (X)
1 hr
  -> Gracias por su amabilidad. Siempre leo aclaraciones de Ud. con mucho gusto.
agree  Gustavo Garrido
1 hr
  -> Gracias. Thanx.
agree  Marijke Singer: I live in the UK. El Oxford pone: 1 a thousand million (1,000,000,000); 2 (now less often, esp. Brit.) a million million
2 hrs
  -> Thanx. You see, in international finance even Germans use B(illion) if they negotiate about US$d. Vamos a ver como sera con euros. Gracias.
agree  Hans Gärtner
5 hrs
  -> Rechtherzlichen Dank. Die Meinung eines Muttersprachlers ist besonders wertvoll. Thanx. Gracias.
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5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
1 000 000 000; one thousand million(s).


Explanation:
bil·lion / "bIlj@n / pron, det
1 1 000 000 000; one thousand million(s).
2 (Brit) (formerly) 1 000 000 000 000; one million million(s).
• bil·lion n (pl unchanged or bil·lions)
1 the number 1 000 000 000.
2 (Brit) (formerly) the number 1 000 000 000 000.
(OALD-CD)


julitravel
Local time: 21:45
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Сергей Лузан: See my answer above.
2 days 13 hrs
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1 day 52 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +1
más información


Explanation:
http://www.alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxbill00.html

The U.S. and traditional British names for large numbers are as
follows:

U.S. Traditional British
10^6 million million
10^9 billion thousand million or milliard
10^12 trillion billion

The list continues up to 10^63.

http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutwords/billio...

How many is a billion?

If you are American, it is undoubtedly 1,000,000,000. This amount is known to traditionally minded British people as `a thousand million', and by some more adventurous ones as a 'milliard', though this word has not made as much headway in English as in some other European languages. A trillion is then 1,000,000,000,000, and so on.

If you are British, on the other hand, a billion may be 1,000,000,000,000 (a million million), following the older convention.

If you are neither British nor American, you can take your pick! (Both systems were invented by the French, but are called 'British' and 'American' for convenience.)

Once the business world and the financial press found themselves discussing `thousand millions' so much, the 'American' system simply became more convenient, despite a certain lack of logical tidiness. (A 'British' trillion is the third power of a million, while the 'American' one is the fourth power of a thousand, and the 'American' system continues out of sync with the arithmetic). It also makes the profits sound bigger! The 'American' system is now standard use in British government publications, and is becoming the norm in many other languages.

http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?BritishBillion

Of course most people cant conceive of the difference between a million, thousand million or a million million. You might as well say "a huge amount". Thats why politicians often use comparative amounts like "this will be a tenth of what we spend on health".


http://www.quinion.com/words/articles/numbers.htm

If there is a word guaranteed to cause substantial confusion, it is billion. Until recently, most people in Britain took it to mean a million million (a 1 followed by 12 zeroes), whereas in the United States it has always meant a thousand million (a 1 followed by only 9 zeroes). There are very few situations in which a factor of a thousand difference is regarded as insignificant and the variation in definition has caused considerable confusion. The need for a common meaning for the word has caused us British largely to capitulate: in most fields now the American usage prevails and indeed it is now official Government policy to use the American billion in all its publications.



Margaret Schroeder
Mexico
Local time: 18:45
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 35

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Сергей Лузан: Thanx a lot for your confimation & excellent explanations with links.
1 day 18 hrs
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