"billion": a U.K. view by Mark Israel [This is a fast-access FAQ excerpt.] billion in our sense is useless except to astronomers, it is a pity that we do not conform [to the U.S. meaning]". The British Government took this advice in 1974, when Prime Minister Harold Wilson announced to the House of Commons that the meaning of "billion" in papers concerning Government statistics would thenceforth be 10^9, in conformity with U.S. usage. Despite this, the U.S. meaning is still rare outside journalism and finance, its introduction having served merely to create confusion. Throughout the U.K., a common response to the question "What do you understand by 'a billion'?" would be: "Well, I mean a million million, but I often don't know what other people mean." Few schoolchildren are confident of the meaning, though, again, 10^12 seems to be preferred. Many well-educated adults, aware of both meanings, either avoid the term altogether or use it only in the unambiguous phrases "English billion" and "American billion". English-speaking South Africans, Australians, and New Zealanders are similarly reluctant to use a term that has become ambiguous. Scientists have long preferred to express numbers in figures rather than in words, so it is easy to avoid "billion" in contexts where precision is required. The plural is still used freely with the colloquial meaning of "a very large number". Publications consulted: OED, Editions 1 and 2. Robert, Dictionnaire historique de la langue francaise. P Pamart, "A propos d'une reforme des mesures legales", in "Vie et Langage", (125)1962, pp 435-437.