athonian Posted October 8, 2004 Report Share Posted October 8, 2004 just curious... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sssarass Posted October 8, 2004 Report Share Posted October 8, 2004 I would jussst have to send out Nomad with itsss Mk M Force Ssshield and 1 Type ZZ Plasssma Torpedo. CTO, Sssarasss Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EternusIV Posted October 8, 2004 Report Share Posted October 8, 2004 :lol: :lol: Awesome poll Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ur Lord Tedric Posted October 8, 2004 Report Share Posted October 8, 2004 Actually it's only possible because of the US abuse of an otherwise perfectly good mathematical expression..... Assuming you only mean a mere One Thousand Million tons.... Rather than a proper Billion, meaning a Million Million = 1,000,000,000,000. I think it's just a pathetic attempt by people with more money than any sign of common sense to make it seem as if they have more! One assumes the media and PR people like to say '2 Billion' rather than the less catchy 2 Thousand Million...... And then when I hear of people using the phrase 'a Trillion', then I really despair. Talk about 9 orders of magnitude out......... Mx Oh boy - need turns......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Uriel Posted October 8, 2004 Report Share Posted October 8, 2004 Ur Lord Tedric, You have to be a math guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ur Lord Tedric Posted October 9, 2004 Report Share Posted October 9, 2004 Ur Lord Tedric, You have to be a math guy. Oh - you guessed..... And there are a number of people who might comment about me and spreadsheets too..... But abuse of the mother tongue - don't get me started. But now I have turns to distract me! Mx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LenLorek Posted October 9, 2004 Report Share Posted October 9, 2004 I know that Americans always try to make things sound better than they are (I believe they call it "marketing"): -- 12 US gallons is really 10 normal gallons -- 11 US tons is really only 10 normal tons -- but 1 US billion is really only 1,000,000,000? That's 0.1% of a normal billion! I think you must be mistaken, Ur-Lord -- that's taking "marketing" too far! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurassier Posted October 9, 2004 Report Share Posted October 9, 2004 If you'll notice in the picture, the billion ton ship is the smaller of the two. The other is an HBOB delivery ship........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali-t-akua Posted October 9, 2004 Report Share Posted October 9, 2004 But abuse of the mother tongue - don't get me started. Yeah but we're Americans. We started abusing the "mother tongue" in 1776. I know that Americans always try to make things sound better than they are (I believe they call it "marketing"):-- 12 US gallons is really 10 normal gallons -- 11 US tons is really only 10 normal tons -- but 1 US billion is really only 1,000,000,000? That's 0.1% of a normal billion! Now Len, at least we were smart enough to not use the stone and fortnight as measures and we still haven't gone to the metric system like our cousins on the other side of the pond. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
octagon999 Posted October 10, 2004 Report Share Posted October 10, 2004 Ur Lord Tedric, You have to be a math guy. Oh - you guessed..... And there are a number of people who might comment about me and spreadsheets too..... But abuse of the mother tongue - don't get me started. But now I have turns to distract me! Mx If you listen to educational radio, you would hear it referred to as one thousand million, instead of a billion. No, not NPR, G Gordon Liddy of course! Ah, the benefits of a classical education. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ur Lord Tedric Posted October 10, 2004 Report Share Posted October 10, 2004 I know that Americans always try to make things sound better than they are (I believe they call it "marketing"):-- 12 US gallons is really 10 normal gallons -- 11 US tons is really only 10 normal tons -- but 1 US billion is really only 1,000,000,000? That's 0.1% of a normal billion! I think you must be mistaken, Ur-Lord -- that's taking "marketing" too far! No, no - it's really true and has been for some time.... Firstly I blame all those American 'billionaires' who just wanted it to sound like they had even more money than mere millionaires. But actually I am sure it was some simpleton media hack and PR guru who decided he liked the word and subsequently abused it for all the world. Whenever you hear of the Congressional Committee who jokes about "a billion here and a billion there, and soon you're talking some serious money" or that a B-2 Stealth Bomber costs $2 Billion - then they're all talking a measley $1,000,000,000..... And now this awful abuse is ensconced in the British media too. Which is why I know they've completely lost it now that a 'Trillion' has entered the arena. They're talking now of a trillion = only 1,000,000,000,000 instead of a 1 followed by 18 zeroes as it's supposed to be (ie a million cubed which is where the word comes from in the first place) I'm sure it won't be long before a googleplex becomes a number you can actually understand!!!! And no, I don't actually blame the poor misguided revolutionaries who rebelled against the 'greatest' empire the world has ever seen - I would have too!!! Since 1776 the US has actually preserved more of the original english language than 'we' have - personally I blame the French! But that's probably not a safe thing to say, either...... Mx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali-t-akua Posted October 10, 2004 Report Share Posted October 10, 2004 And no, I don't actually blame the poor misguided revolutionaries who rebelled against the 'greatest' empire the world has ever seen - I would have too!!! Since 1776 the US has actually preserved more of the original english language than 'we' have - personally I blame the French! But that's probably not a safe thing to say, either...... While naturally I don't see the revolutionaries as misguided or poor, I am mystified at your comment regarding the preservation of the English language. If we have done a better job doe that make our definition of Billion and Trillion the better one? At least it is quicker and less confusing than saying thousand million or million billion or billion trillion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ur Lord Tedric Posted October 10, 2004 Report Share Posted October 10, 2004 While naturally I don't see the revolutionaries as misguided or poor, I am mystified at your comment regarding the preservation of the English language. If we have done a better job doe that make our definition of Billion and Trillion the better one? At least it is quicker and less confusing than saying thousand million or million billion or billion trillion. :lol: Ah, no.... Preserving a language is one thing - utterly abusing it is another. We earthlings are, I believe, basing much of our pitiful attempts at interstellar communications on the uniformity of mathematics..... It's something you shouldn't touch just to make things sound better - that could lead to quite a lot of confusion. Preserving spelling and form is one thing, chaging a definition on an 'artistic' whim is quite another...... Mx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Centhen Posted October 10, 2004 Report Share Posted October 10, 2004 It's probably over 15 years now since we British officially adopted the US style Billion. As an accountant it makes things easier transatlantically... Centhen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hughestrog Posted October 11, 2004 Report Share Posted October 11, 2004 I know that Americans always try to make things sound better than they are (I believe they call it "marketing"):-- 12 US gallons is really 10 normal gallons -- 11 US tons is really only 10 normal tons -- but 1 US billion is really only 1,000,000,000? That's 0.1% of a normal billion! I think you must be mistaken, Ur-Lord -- that's taking "marketing" too far! And you're forgetting a pint! US pints are smaller than Imperial pints What unit of measurement do HBOB deliver in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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