# How did "K" replace "G" to indicate $1000 (US)
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-k-replace-g-to-indicate-1000-us/708624
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [December 31, 2014, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-k-replace-g-to-indicate-1000-us/708624 "2014-12-31T15:48:18Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@UncleFred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleFred)
#### Post date: [December 31, 2014, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-k-replace-g-to-indicate-1000-us/708624/1 "2014-12-31T15:48:18Z")
Given the US’ microscopic adoption of the metric system ;
“K” (Kilo) now appears to be the common way to indicate $1000; i.e. $300K = $300,000
But way back IIRC correctly “G” (Grand) was in use and I don’t recall anyone using “K”.
Usage Note - The “$100,000 Bar” candy was renamed the “100 Grand” bar in the 80’s (according to Wikipedia) so it can’t be too long ago that “G” was still in use.
How did we come to adopt a metric term in this case, where it is so rare otherwise?
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [December 31, 2014, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-k-replace-g-to-indicate-1000-us/708624/2 "2014-12-31T16:03:52Z")
I don’t recall ‘G’ being used, though ‘Grand’ was common. Kiloton was used for bombs for as long as I can remember, so it wasn’t something that went into recent usage.
ETA: Actually I do recall some use of the plural ‘Gs’, pronounced ‘jeez’, but not in the singular form, and it was always specific to money. So you would say “That car costs fifty jeez”, without the word ‘dollar’ and no $ in writing.
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### Author:  [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)
#### Post date: [December 31, 2014, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-k-replace-g-to-indicate-1000-us/708624/3 "2014-12-31T16:05:57Z")
I assume it had something to with 14 of them in a f p d.
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### Author:  [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)
#### Post date: [December 31, 2014, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-k-replace-g-to-indicate-1000-us/708624/4 "2014-12-31T16:13:07Z")
I think “G” now pretty much means “Giga” to most people, so 100G of money is really 100 gigabucks, or $100 billion.
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### Author:  [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)
#### Post date: [December 31, 2014, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-k-replace-g-to-indicate-1000-us/708624/5 "2014-12-31T16:20:06Z")
Something to do with the advent of computers, and the common usage of the term “kilobyte” and its abbreviation KB?
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [December 31, 2014, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-k-replace-g-to-indicate-1000-us/708624/6 "2014-12-31T16:54:19Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#):
>
> I think “G” now pretty much means “Giga” to most people, so 100G of money is really 100 gigabucks, or $100 billion.
I doubt that’s used much outside of computer applications. I’ve never seen an example of someone referring to gigabucks. Do you have some evidence it is common?
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [December 31, 2014, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-k-replace-g-to-indicate-1000-us/708624/7 "2014-12-31T17:23:00Z")
> [@Colibri](#):
>
> I doubt that’s used much outside of computer applications. I’ve never seen an example of someone referring to gigabucks. Do you have some evidence it is common?
I hear people say the word ‘gigabucks’, often without even knowing what it means. But I think $100G would just confuse people.
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### Author:  [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)
#### Post date: [December 31, 2014, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-k-replace-g-to-indicate-1000-us/708624/8 "2014-12-31T18:00:34Z")
> [@UncleFred](#):
>
> But way back IIRC correctly “G” (Grand) was in use and I don’t recall anyone using “K”.
I’m 53, and I don’t recall anyone using the letter “G” to refer to a thousand. The word “grand,” yes. I just don’t think I’ve ever seen only the letter.
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### Author:  [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)
#### Post date: [December 31, 2014, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-k-replace-g-to-indicate-1000-us/708624/9 "2014-12-31T18:17:43Z")
A good place to look would be newspaper headlines. In the sixties, how might a newspaper have headlined the size of the crowd on New Year’s Eve in Times Square, or the year’s body count in Vietnam? Did they really not use the G?
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### Author:  [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)
#### Post date: [December 31, 2014, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-k-replace-g-to-indicate-1000-us/708624/10 "2014-12-31T18:20:27Z")
> [@Keeve](#):
>
> A good place to look would be newspaper headlines. In the sixties, how might a newspaper have headlined the size of the crowd on New Year’s Eve in Times Square, or the year’s body count in Vietnam? Did they really not use the G?
For what it’s worth, Webster’s says “grand” means “a thousand dollars”.
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### Author:  [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)
#### Post date: [December 31, 2014, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-k-replace-g-to-indicate-1000-us/708624/11 "2014-12-31T18:25:55Z")
I’ve heard of G being used to mean a grand, as in “That house cost 200 Gs.” Of course, K means a little more than a thousand in computer lingo (1024 to be precise) so I’d much rather have 100K than 100Gs.
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### Author:  [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)
#### Post date: [December 31, 2014, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-k-replace-g-to-indicate-1000-us/708624/12 "2014-12-31T18:42:19Z")
Pet-peeve time:
> [@](#):
>
> [Kilo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilo-) is a unit prefix in the metric system denoting multiplication by one thousand. It has been used in the International System of Units where **it has the unit symbol k, in lower case**.
At work I’m a pain in the ass when it comes to the correct usage of units. If a resistor is 10000 ohm, for example, I often see it written as
10KΩ
10K
10 KΩ
All of these are wrong. Only this is correct:
**10 kΩ**
For completeness sake, the following are also correct:
10000 Ω
10000 ohm (_not_ 10000 Ohm)
10 kilohm
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### Author:  [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)
#### Post date: [December 31, 2014, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-k-replace-g-to-indicate-1000-us/708624/13 "2014-12-31T19:02:59Z")
> [@CurtC](#):
>
> I’m 53, and I don’t recall anyone using the letter “G” to refer to a thousand. The word “grand,” yes. I just don’t think I’ve ever seen only the letter.
Jimmy Durante used it in “It’s a Mad. . . World.” “Tree hunnit fitty G’s unda da dubba yew.”
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### Author:  [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)
#### Post date: [December 31, 2014, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-k-replace-g-to-indicate-1000-us/708624/14 "2014-12-31T19:08:23Z")
I’ve never seen “G” used this way, and I’m half a C.
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### Author:  [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)
#### Post date: [December 31, 2014, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-k-replace-g-to-indicate-1000-us/708624/15 "2014-12-31T20:06:22Z")
I remember G meaning “grand” or a thousand since the 1960’s. I first encountered the term used that way in a Superman comic book. Gangsters talking about the amount of their ill-gotten loot.
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### Author:  [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)
#### Post date: [December 31, 2014, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-k-replace-g-to-indicate-1000-us/708624/16 "2014-12-31T20:15:26Z")
I think that the popularity of 10k and 5k runs may have had something to do with that.
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### Author:  [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)
#### Post date: [December 31, 2014, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-k-replace-g-to-indicate-1000-us/708624/17 "2014-12-31T20:27:38Z")
> [@TriPolar](#):
>
> … I think $100G would just confuse people.
Of course it would, it is redundant. The “$” is implied in the “G”. “$100K” is fine, because “K” has become a semi-generic expression meaning about a thousand. “100G” only means “$100,000”, “G” is not used in any other way (a bad crash would be “100g”, not “100G”).
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### Author:  [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)
#### Post date: [December 31, 2014, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-k-replace-g-to-indicate-1000-us/708624/18 "2014-12-31T20:36:29Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#):
>
> Pet-peeve time:
>
> At work I’m a pain in the ass when it comes to the correct usage of units. If a resistor is 10000 ohm, for example, I often see it written as
>
> 10KΩ
> 10K
> 10 KΩ
>
> All of these are wrong. Only this is correct:
>
> **10 kΩ**
What’s wrong with “10KΩ” and “10 KΩ”? Does a capital K mean something different? And why does the spacing matter?
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [December 31, 2014, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-k-replace-g-to-indicate-1000-us/708624/19 "2014-12-31T20:44:09Z")
> [@TriPolar](#):
>
> I hear people say the word ‘gigabucks’, often without even knowing what it means. But I think $100G would just confuse people.
I can believe people may use gigabucks in the same way they use megabucks. However, I doubt they often are using it to refer to a billion dollars specifically, rather than just a very large sum of money.
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### Author:  [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)
#### Post date: [December 31, 2014, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-k-replace-g-to-indicate-1000-us/708624/20 "2014-12-31T20:46:48Z")
> [@Indistinguishable](#):
>
> What’s wrong with “10KΩ” and “10 KΩ”? Does a capital K mean something different? And why does the spacing matter?
It’s a nitpicky formatting issue that is important to some people. I have a teacher friend who complains whenever anybody says “a hundred and fifty dollars”, because “and” means “decimal point” and they should have said “one hundred fifty dollars”. :rolleyes:
The “kilo” prefix [is technically lowercase](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_prefix). This matters in the case of “pico” versus “peta” or “milli” versus “mega”, but not in the specific case of “kilo”.
For what it’s worth, I’ve heard “fifty Gs” or “fifty grand” quite a lot, but have never seen it written “$50G”. I’m only 32, but I have more than average experience watching old films, looking at old pictures and reading old documents. Still wouldn’t surprise me if “K” was new, but I haven’t seen much evidence that it replaced “G”.
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