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[–] 40 points 2 years ago (24 children)

Why would you say "half" when you could say "500"?

500 Billion Dollars.

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  • [–] 47 points 2 years ago (8 children)

    Doesn't half a trillion sound like more than 500 billion? Even though 500 billion is already a lot?

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  • [+] -19 points 2 years ago (7 children)

    No, "half" sounds like half. 500 of something sounds like more than half of something. (Yes, trillion > billion, we're not debating the actual facts - which are the same either way - just the way it's perceived in a headline)

    Half of dinners. 500 meals. Half a car. 500 auto parts. Half of all dealerships. 500 independent dealers. etc.

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  • [–] 10 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    none of your examples make sense. "trillion" has more gravity than "billion" in headlines. simple as that.

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  • [–] 26 points 2 years ago (14 children)

    A trillion is larger than a billion, so half a trillion is a more rage bait headline.

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  • [–] 17 points 2 years ago (7 children)

    Humans can’t fathom the vast distances of space. How are we going to fathom a trillion dollars?

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  • [–] 6 points 2 years ago (3 children)
  • [+] 0 points 2 years ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)
  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (1 child)

    You didn't see an article, you saw a screenshot of a tweet. As far as I can tell that was a lie. We should not be spreading lies when there are enough true horrible things they have done we could be talking about.

    Unless I'm wrong and you're the one person on Lemmy that actually saw an article supporting that claim. I'd like to be wrong, if I am could you please link the article?

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    I think it's the opposite. We're all used to "a billion" now, even thought we can't really concieve of it the way we can, say $100. But a trillion is just space money. Just make it a gazillion.

    500 Billion has real competitive traction - people are billionaires, this is more than them, etc. A trillion is something you have nanoparticles of, something very small.

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  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    “Billion”, sadly, is a term that nowadays conjures an individual human or corporate level figure.

    “Trillion” is an economy level figure and suitably conjures an idea of how fucked up you all are.

    IMHO.

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