If B is short for Billion and M is short for Million, why is K short for Thousand?

[FunkyMonkee]

[Static_In_The_Attic]

It’s the little things in life that make you go hmmm & some of those things are fun to ponder. On the flip side K comes from the Greek word kilo which means a thousand.

If olive oil is made from olives & vegetable oil is made from vegetables what is baby oil made from? Hmmm…

[FunkyMonkee]

What are the Greek words for Billion and Million?
Freshly squeezed babies, of course!!

[sage2021]

@Static_In_The_Attic
And what is extra virgin olive oil? It sounds like something to do with sex.

[sage2021]

I think 🤔 hummm I don't know what baby oil is made from. Hummmm

[Static_In_The_Attic]

@sage2021 BOOM! You got me.

[exitseven]

I always thought they cooked babies to extract the oil from them.

[Static_In_The_Attic]

@exitseven That is probably how they do it for all we know & I’m not going to ask how they make sour patch kids.

[FunkyMonkee]

@sage2021 That comes from olives that just ooze oil. Or, a very young girl named, Olive!

[FunkyMonkee]

@exitseven No, ya just squeeze them.

[Static_In_The_Attic]

Wasn’t Popeyes girl friend named Olive Oil?

[FunkyMonkee]

Olive Oyl.

[strateguy632]

because they used it when scientists were elite with latin, so k matched 1,000 like cent for hundred in greek. our generation started using m&b but we are simpler. (the elite used mega= megaton and giga =gigawatt instead of m million and b billion).

the word milligram both confused and annoyed me! no excuse! centimeter is 1/100! just compare. despite cent-ury!

good thing we use INCHES and ounces! Europe and french were dummies! (catching my breath.)

[IslaTheWitch]

Eight original SI prefixes were officially adopted: deca, hecto, kilo, myria, deci, centi, milli, and myrio, derived from Greek and Latin numbers.

[FunkyMonkee]

What is, SI?

[Siri137]

Systeme Internationale. An agreed-upon set of basic units, agreed upon in France back in 1960. Used primarily by scientists, and based upon metric units.

[Siri137]

K for 'kilo'. Kilogramme, kilometre, kilojoule. You Yanks will never understand the metric system, LOL :D

[Subglacial]

G (as in giga) sometimes gets used for billions when describing deep time, as in "4.5 Gya.", but you're right, it is odd that B gets used in most other things.

Why, though, in sci-fi, do we have hyperspace and subspace? Why not superspace or hypospace? That's what I really want to know.

[Dargil]

K as in Kilo- A Kilogram is one thousand grams. A Kilometer is one thousand meters.

[Astarlessnightsky]

K is for Kilo.

EG: Kilogram = 1000 gram
Kilometer = 1000 meter

[Grond21]

M is short for mega, K is short for kilo. Like kilogram, kilowatt, kilometer, kilobyte, etc.

[FunkyMonkee]

I just saw a paper's headline and it mentioned B of billion, M for million and K for thousand. What's next, Q for hundred?

[Grond21]

It would be C for hundred

[Fireguy17]

I think it is from the metric system, kilo, which is a thousand.

[FunkyMonkee]

Then, why not use the metric initials for Million and Billion, too?

[sage2021]

@Fireguy17
I remember back in the 70's you could buy a kilo of marijuana. Is that the same thing?

[FunkyMonkee]

@sage2021 Yeah, but there were other measurements, too. How many lids you get from a key, how many joints you get from a lid, etc.
How many keys go into an ordinary batch of wipe-out brownies? Or, do they just use lids?

[sage2021]

@FunkyMonkee
I know what you're talking about because I grew up in San Francisco and when you're 16, 17 you're around the older hippie's all the time and you learn the jargon.
Yep! A lid was 10 bucks. The good stuff was 25 bucks a lid.
I remember seeing kilos lots of times. It was shaped like a brick but bigger.

[FunkyMonkee]

@sage2021 I didn't have that many hippies around me but I grew up in the drug culture era. Most of the kids I hung out with were 4 to 7 years younger than me and most of the kids my age treated me like I was at least 4 years younger than them.

[Fireguy17]

they don't use those words for numbers in the metric system, it is based on 1,000.

[exitseven]

Because on the metric system Kilo means thousand. i Kilogram is a thousand grams.

[Snakeyes7]

I think it is because T is reserved for trillion.

[FunkyMonkee]

Then, make Th short for thousand.

[Snakeyes7]

Maybe. I wish I knew the actual reason.

[NathanDavis]

because that is what kilo means

[FunkyMonkee]

How does kilo equate to 1000?

[NathanDavis]

it just does... that's the name they gave to these "equivalences"

deca, hecta, kilo, mega, giga, tera... etcétera

10, 100, 100, 1000000,

[juliammm]

someone missed physics class...

[FunkyMonkee]

Someone never had physics class.

[KrakenAttackin]

K for KILO (thousand).

[FunkyMonkee]

That's Greek. We speak English. Why not T? Mil is 1000 in Italian but nobody uses M instead of 1000.

[sage2021]

And why does C short for 100?

[KrakenAttackin]

@sage2021 C is for Century, or 100.

[OlderAndWiser]

Roman numerals, and in Latin, "centum" means one hundred.

[FunkyMonkee]

Roman numeral.

[andreasderjuengere]

Only metric people will now chuckle :)

[FunkyMonkee]

I've never heard of metric people and would they now chuckle?

[andreasderjuengere]

We live at the other end of the sea.
Where measures, weights and such make sense :D
Others already mentioned the indicative meaning of ''kilo''...

[FunkyMonkee]

You mean like feet, inches, yards, miles?
I know but, I got to yours first.

[andreasderjuengere]

I think that the world will NEVER agree here, heh heh

[FunkyMonkee]

Why would someone go to the trouble to say, "I'm 158 centimeters" when they could've said, "I'm 5 foot 4.", or whatever 158 centimeters comes to in inches?
I'm 2 yards & 9".

[andreasderjuengere]

Why: Out of nationalistic considerations, I'd say.

[FunkyMonkee]

I seriously doubt I'll ever learn any of that.

[andreasderjuengere]

I think it's because one grows up with it.
In my profession I need to use both systems - and I still struggle with conversions, even after 30+ years.

[FunkyMonkee]

True. It was never discussed about us learning metric until at least my last year of high school or sometime ion the mid to late `80's when I was in college.
Why is there no metric system for time or money?

[andreasderjuengere]

Because we are used to the planet's rotation speed?
Also the degrees of a circle... is a habit that we are all used to.
Money... well... is metric. Unless you pay with ounces of gold.

[Sparkie460]

A lot of people, including me write k for thousand

[FunkyMonkee]

Why?

[Sparkie460]

Because k is kilo which is thousand.

[FunkyMonkee]

And T is thousand, which is a kilo.
Do they now call it, Kilo Island Dressing?

[Sparkie460]

Don't give them any ideas

[DextroShade]

K is short for kilo which means 1,000.

[Anonymous]

K is short for thousands.

[FunkyMonkee]

I know! The question is, why? Shouldn't it be T? There's no K in "thousand".

[Opinion Owner]

Sorry, I misread the question. Looks like others have answered the question.

[Roudyrebel8]

Greek word kilo means thousand

[RavVid]

Kilo is a 1000.

[RedInnocent68]

Because, kilo.

[LiamJHayden]

K for kilo

[Twalli]

Latin