>>13483768It's because that certain units/amounts are more
meaningful to use as the numbers get bigger.
Japanese with their issen-man and Indians with
their crores (for ex.) are meaningful to them
culturally, historically and even linguistically
so that it works fine with them. Ever heard a
Frenchman sing ninety-nine red balloons?
No. They sing four-twenty nineteen red balloons
(20 is meaningful in short amounts to them).
>>13484337The scales have a meaningful amount to them,
short scale in thousands; long scale in millions.
Of Germanic and Latin origin, respectively.
The long scale has the advantage of being
logical as you increase past a million:
>million>milliard (1,000 million)>billion (million million)>billiard (1,000 billion)>trillion (million million million), etc.The short scale has the advantage of being
convenient as every thousand-fold increase
is something new; easier to visualize:
>$1 (good for a snack)>$1,000 (fills your fridge for a month + 2 weeks)>$1,000,000 (life-changing for one family; a damn good brownstone), etc.And, yeah, you'll blow through the names faster.
Check out Donald Knuth's numbering system
proposal. You'll cover a lot of ground with that one.
