# Is American Numbering System Illogical **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [October 27, 2000, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-american-numbering-system-illogical/38528 "2000-10-27T01:51:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Topi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@Topi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Topi)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2000, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-american-numbering-system-illogical/38528/21 "2000-10-30T14:06:26Z")
Now everybody knows that here in Europe we have monocycles, bicycles, tricycles etc. with one, two and three wheels respectively. In US they have monocylcles, bicycles, tricycles etc. with one wheel and trainers, two wheels and trainers, three wheels and trainers etc. Very logical 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![NanoByte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecc23a/32.png) [@NanoByte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NanoByte)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2000, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-american-numbering-system-illogical/38528/22 "2000-10-30T17:36:49Z")
Well, that’s all well “spoken”, I guess, but I think we should all get off our epicycles and recycle, or at least re"tire" this sadly abraded thread before we go over the handlebars. Ray ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2000, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-american-numbering-system-illogical/38528/23 "2000-10-31T01:58:16Z")
Topi wrote: > [@](#): > > In US they have monocylcles, bicycles, tricycles etc. with one wheel and trainers, two wheels and trainers, three wheels and trainers etc. Actually, we don’t have monocycles (except in organic chemistry). We have unicycles. ---
**Author:** ![NanoByte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecc23a/32.png) [@NanoByte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NanoByte)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2000, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-american-numbering-system-illogical/38528/24 "2000-10-31T03:11:54Z")
Of course _i_cycles form on the Internet when threads get off-topic. Ray ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2000, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-american-numbering-system-illogical/38528/25 "2000-10-31T19:27:28Z")
RM’s point about bicycles was this: Using the formula where (p\*3)+ 3, then an equivalent system for cycle wheel determination might be p + 1. A unicycle would have 1 + 1 = 2 wheels. A bicycle would have 2 + 1 = 3 wheels. Etc. Okay, it’s a stretch, it’s just showing that if the prefix is to designate something to do with a numeral count, it is nice to have that numeral count actually match the meaning of the prefix. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2000, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-american-numbering-system-illogical/38528/26 "2000-11-02T18:51:04Z")
From [meriam-webster’s online dictionary](http://www.m-w.com/), the word _million_ comes ultimately from “from Old Italian milione, augmentative of mille thousand, from Latin”. In other words, the “M” in milion comes from thousand, not one. So what we have in the American system is: 10^3 = Thousand 10^6 = Million = mille thousand = thousand thousand 10^9 = Billion = (mille)^2 thousand = (thousand)^2 thousand 10^12 = Trillion = (thousand)^3 thousand 10^15 = Quadrillion = (thousand)^4 thousand etc. Well, would you look at that? The exponents line up perfectly with Billion, Trillion, etc. after all. ---
**Author:** ![NanoByte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecc23a/32.png) [@NanoByte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NanoByte)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-american-numbering-system-illogical/38528/27 "2000-11-03T01:34:21Z")
This in no way makes us a more perfect union (any more than that other Italian, Amerigo, did). 10^(3_1). .thousand. . .“mille” 10^(3_2). .million . . .“big mille” 10^(3_3). .billion . . .“two” 10^(3_4). .trillion. . .“three” 10^(3\*5). .quadrillion .“four” etc. . . . ^ . . . . . . . . . .^ . . . ^ . . . . . . . . . .^ Arrows point to offset of numeral names wrt factor of power. Give up! Ray [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-american-numbering-system-illogical/38528.md?page=1)