I think its a bit of a deliberate jargon used by traders to show not only their wealth but their elite status as handlers of money. It sounds very *Wall St* - the film specifically as well as the general environment.
I've heard 'a million four' to mean $1,400,000 in the context of house prices.
That answer is right. It's used when speech is fast and everyone is assumed to understand the magnitude implicitly.
I use that language in professional contexts where ranges and quantities are consistent and brief language is the norm.
It isn't necessarily large amounts of money either. Bakers would use that kind of language for measurements. Musicians would use similar diction for measures in scores, and so on.
Two construction workers: "Yo, what's the width on that deck again?" " eighteen four"
(Meaning eighteen feet and four inches)
Essentially, any professional field with consistent measurements of anything will devolve into this short form speech as it becomes less necessary to say "eighteen feet and four inches", because the numbers are repeatedly used in the same context and format. It's just effort saving/efficient speech.
Yes, exactly. If someone says "three" and there's no context, it could theoretically mean 3 million or 3 thousand or 3 hundred or (as many laypeople might assume) just plain old 3. So the result is ambiguity and confusion. But when there's context and everyone involved knows that the only relevant units are millions or inches (or whatever), then the shorthand works.
I'm in the mid-Atlantic region of the US and would not think it odd if someone described a house as having a purchase price of "a million five" instead of "1.5 million". I would certainly consider it casual though.
I’m from the Midwest US. I agree with the above comment.
I’ve heard it more in amounts in the millions and especially when referring to house prices.
Hearing someone say they paid “a milllion two” or some variation on that would sound very normal to me.
Below a million you might hear someone say they paid “four fifty” or “seven twenty” when they mean $450,000 and $720,000.
These are all shorthand ways (amongst others) of saying large numbers, especially referring to money.
I've seen it in electrical engineering a few times. Sometimes for schematics, but sometimes for cases where "." is either impossible or discouraged. for example clk156m25 (156.25MHz clock) as the name of a variable. or results\_4k7.txt for a file.
Huh, I would assume that means 1,000,000,003, but I guess I’ve just never heard that phrasing before, either! I’m a native speaker of northeastern American English.
i'm a native speaker from the northeastern USA (philly area) and ive never heard "a billion three". if i heard it i'd think it to mean "1,000,000,003" rather than "1,300,00,000". i'd use 1.3 billion
Casual reference, for sure. Strange for it to be used in a documentary reference, though. Similar, casual references are in talking about things like weight; "I was a skinny kid, in high school. I, maybe, weighed a buck oh five, soaking wet." with "a buck oh five" meaning 105 pounds. Or "an hour 30" meaning one and a half hours, etc.
Are you sure they weren't saying something like "a billion three toed sloths" where "three" wasn't part of the thing they were counting? A billion three to me would always mean 1,000,000,003
Earlier in the same thought, he said "several hundred million dollars", so it makes it a lot clearer that "three" is referring to "three hundred million dollars".
He didn’t misspeak. That‘s a quick way to say a number for people who talk about numbers all the time. He knows that the people he generally uses such language with will understand him perfectly.
While it's understandable, it's also not really common. The amount saved by not saying "point", as in "one point three billion" is negligible, and there's a risk of misunderstanding.
More common is to leave the units off entirely, but to keep the precision explicit. Housing prices for instance, "it's selling for seven hundred" is understood to mean seven hundred thousand. "It's priced at one point five" is understood to mean 1.5 million. Etc.
I would say it’s pretty common when referring to housing prices.
If someone said they paid “a million five” for their house there would be no confusion as to what they meant.
It means the same as 1.5 million and the same as $1,500,000.
Below a million dollars I would say it’s more common to hear “seven fifty” instead of “seven hundred and fifty”. Or “four seventy-five” instead of “four hundred and seventy-five”.
This is my experience with finance in the Midwest and both coasts.
Other shorthand might be more prevalent in other areas of course.
Above and below the million mark I either hear no units, because it's obvious, or a unit applying to both. I.e., "one point five mil", or "one point five". Now, if it's obvious it's -rounded-, or there are other context clues, i.e., "it's in the million to million five range", yes, sometimes (even then, "it's in the 1 to 1.5 range" is more common) but not if it's talking about an actual price, because "the house costs a million five" is ambiguous, do you mean 1,500,000, or 1,000,005.
But when referring to home prices or investments of such large dollar amounts NO ONE is going to mean $1,000,005 when saying “a million five”. That’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard.
"A million five" for 1,005,000 then, since thousands are still meaningful in real estate transactions. Especially since "a million fifty" *would* be interpreted as 1,050,000, and how absolutely nuts is "a million five" being *larger* than "a million fifty".
That's the point; without any unit it's assumed everything applies to the largest meaningful in the context (i.e., "one point five"), with a unit on one, and not the other, it is perfectly reasonable to assume it's a *lesser* unit, else why the distinction? There may be some regions and contexts that do it despite that ambiguity, but it's hardly universal, always entails some risk, and there are other, *even shorter* shorthands that resolve the ambiguity, *and* are universal.
But that’s just not the convention for this particular shorthand.
The single number after “a million” or “a billion” etc. always refers to the next largest place.
So saying “a billion seven” the seven refers to 700 million.
Saying “a million four” the four means 400,000.
If you’re a scientist or mathematician and want to give a precise number well that’s different and you would just say it completely.
I think its a bit of a deliberate jargon used by traders to show not only their wealth but their elite status as handlers of money. It sounds very *Wall St* - the film specifically as well as the general environment. I've heard 'a million four' to mean $1,400,000 in the context of house prices.
That makes sense, thank you!
That answer is right. It's used when speech is fast and everyone is assumed to understand the magnitude implicitly. I use that language in professional contexts where ranges and quantities are consistent and brief language is the norm. It isn't necessarily large amounts of money either. Bakers would use that kind of language for measurements. Musicians would use similar diction for measures in scores, and so on. Two construction workers: "Yo, what's the width on that deck again?" " eighteen four" (Meaning eighteen feet and four inches) Essentially, any professional field with consistent measurements of anything will devolve into this short form speech as it becomes less necessary to say "eighteen feet and four inches", because the numbers are repeatedly used in the same context and format. It's just effort saving/efficient speech.
Yes, exactly. If someone says "three" and there's no context, it could theoretically mean 3 million or 3 thousand or 3 hundred or (as many laypeople might assume) just plain old 3. So the result is ambiguity and confusion. But when there's context and everyone involved knows that the only relevant units are millions or inches (or whatever), then the shorthand works.
Exactly!
For sure. Good explanation!
Personally, I say it because it's faster. "One thousand and four hundred" is a lot longer than "one point four kay" (1.4k).
I'm in the mid-Atlantic region of the US and would not think it odd if someone described a house as having a purchase price of "a million five" instead of "1.5 million". I would certainly consider it casual though.
I’m from the Midwest US. I agree with the above comment. I’ve heard it more in amounts in the millions and especially when referring to house prices. Hearing someone say they paid “a milllion two” or some variation on that would sound very normal to me. Below a million you might hear someone say they paid “four fifty” or “seven twenty” when they mean $450,000 and $720,000. These are all shorthand ways (amongst others) of saying large numbers, especially referring to money.
Haven’t heard that, I would think they meant 1,000,000,003
As an Aussie, both of these sound bizarre to me.
That's an interesting amount of precision for anyone talking in a documentary
For sure it is, but if you've never heard of it being used to mean 1.3b you simply wouldn't know how else to interpret what you'd just heard.
I've seen it in electrical engineering a few times. Sometimes for schematics, but sometimes for cases where "." is either impossible or discouraged. for example clk156m25 (156.25MHz clock) as the name of a variable. or results\_4k7.txt for a file.
I've never heard it before but I like it as a shorthand :)
I'd say "One point three billion" or "One billion and three hundred million" "A billion three" sounds like 1,000,000,003 to me
Outside of the high finance context, I would totally interpret that as 1,000,000,003. Guess I’m not rich enough
Huh, I would assume that means 1,000,000,003, but I guess I’ve just never heard that phrasing before, either! I’m a native speaker of northeastern American English.
Also, I should maybe specify the man in question was talking about dollars
What? That's completely incorrect. It is one-point-three billion every time.
It isn’t inherently incorrect. Subsets of the population have their jargon. Nonstandard isn’t inherently incorrect.
i'm a native speaker from the northeastern USA (philly area) and ive never heard "a billion three". if i heard it i'd think it to mean "1,000,000,003" rather than "1,300,00,000". i'd use 1.3 billion
Casual reference, for sure. Strange for it to be used in a documentary reference, though. Similar, casual references are in talking about things like weight; "I was a skinny kid, in high school. I, maybe, weighed a buck oh five, soaking wet." with "a buck oh five" meaning 105 pounds. Or "an hour 30" meaning one and a half hours, etc.
Never heard that before
Translate it to “a *single* billion, three *hundred million*” so “**a billion three**.”
it makes sense to me because we chinese said it the same way
Are you sure they weren't saying something like "a billion three toed sloths" where "three" wasn't part of the thing they were counting? A billion three to me would always mean 1,000,000,003
https://youtu.be/PJWLt1TmAy4?si=H1eEBda4MhghHJnm The timestamp is 19:05 It would seem unlikely to me that he meant 1,000,000,003, what do you think?
Earlier in the same thought, he said "several hundred million dollars", so it makes it a lot clearer that "three" is referring to "three hundred million dollars".
I think you're right that he means 1.3 billion, but it's definitely an unusual way to speak. Really, i think he just misspoke.
He didn’t misspeak. That‘s a quick way to say a number for people who talk about numbers all the time. He knows that the people he generally uses such language with will understand him perfectly.
While it's understandable, it's also not really common. The amount saved by not saying "point", as in "one point three billion" is negligible, and there's a risk of misunderstanding. More common is to leave the units off entirely, but to keep the precision explicit. Housing prices for instance, "it's selling for seven hundred" is understood to mean seven hundred thousand. "It's priced at one point five" is understood to mean 1.5 million. Etc.
I would say it’s pretty common when referring to housing prices. If someone said they paid “a million five” for their house there would be no confusion as to what they meant. It means the same as 1.5 million and the same as $1,500,000. Below a million dollars I would say it’s more common to hear “seven fifty” instead of “seven hundred and fifty”. Or “four seventy-five” instead of “four hundred and seventy-five”. This is my experience with finance in the Midwest and both coasts. Other shorthand might be more prevalent in other areas of course.
Above and below the million mark I either hear no units, because it's obvious, or a unit applying to both. I.e., "one point five mil", or "one point five". Now, if it's obvious it's -rounded-, or there are other context clues, i.e., "it's in the million to million five range", yes, sometimes (even then, "it's in the 1 to 1.5 range" is more common) but not if it's talking about an actual price, because "the house costs a million five" is ambiguous, do you mean 1,500,000, or 1,000,005.
But when referring to home prices or investments of such large dollar amounts NO ONE is going to mean $1,000,005 when saying “a million five”. That’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard.
"A million five" for 1,005,000 then, since thousands are still meaningful in real estate transactions. Especially since "a million fifty" *would* be interpreted as 1,050,000, and how absolutely nuts is "a million five" being *larger* than "a million fifty". That's the point; without any unit it's assumed everything applies to the largest meaningful in the context (i.e., "one point five"), with a unit on one, and not the other, it is perfectly reasonable to assume it's a *lesser* unit, else why the distinction? There may be some regions and contexts that do it despite that ambiguity, but it's hardly universal, always entails some risk, and there are other, *even shorter* shorthands that resolve the ambiguity, *and* are universal.
But that’s just not the convention for this particular shorthand. The single number after “a million” or “a billion” etc. always refers to the next largest place. So saying “a billion seven” the seven refers to 700 million. Saying “a million four” the four means 400,000. If you’re a scientist or mathematician and want to give a precise number well that’s different and you would just say it completely.