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Maybe because France use the long scale, so a billion is a million millions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_and_short_scale#French-sp...



The fact that international confusion over billions doesn't arise more often points out how bad people are at thinking about large numbers. We mostly don't notice the difference between a billion and a trillion.


Same in Norway. I'm from the US and the large numbers always take some thought. I didn't realize that I'd have to relearn counting when moving here, but honestly it is easier than trying to relate the time of day.




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