quantifiers

quantifiers


   In techspeak and jargon, the standard metric prefixes used in the SI
   (Systeme International) conventions for scientific measurement have
   dual uses. With units of time or things that come in powers of 10,
   such as money, they retain their usual meanings of multiplication by
   powers of 1000 = 10^3. But when used with bytes or other things that
   naturally come in powers of 2, they usually denote multiplication by
   powers of 1024 = 2^10.

   Here are the SI magnifying prefixes, along with the corresponding
   binary interpretations in common use:

   prefix  decimal  binary
   kilo-   1000^1   1024^1 = 2^10 = 1,024
   mega-   1000^2   1024^2 = 2^20 = 1,048,576
   giga-   1000^3   1024^3 = 2^30 = 1,073,741,824
   tera-   1000^4   1024^4 = 2^40 = 1,099,511,627,776
   peta-   1000^5   1024^5 = 2^50 = 1,125,899,906,842,624
   exa- 1000^6   1024^6 = 2^60 = 1,152,921,504,606,846,976
   zetta-  1000^7   1024^7 = 2^70 = 1,180,591,620,717,411,303,424
   yotta-  1000^8   1024^8 = 2^80 = 1,208,925,819,614,629,174,706,176

   Here are the SI fractional prefixes:

   prefix  decimal  jargon usage
   milli-  1000^-1  (seldom used in jargon)
   micro-  1000^-2  small or human-scale (see {micro-})
   nano-   1000^-3  even smaller (see {nano-})
   pico-   1000^-4  even smaller yet (see {pico-})
   femto-  1000^-5  (not used in jargon--yet)
   atto-   1000^-6  (not used in jargon--yet)
   zepto-  1000^-7  (not used in jargon--yet)
   yocto-  1000^-8  (not used in jargon--yet)

   The prefixes zetta-, yotta-, zepto-, and yocto- have been included in
   these tables purely for completeness and giggle value; they were
   adopted in 1990 by the 19th Conference Generale des Poids et Mesures.
   The binary peta- and exa- loadings, though well established, are not
   in jargon use either -- yet. The prefix milli-, denoting
   multiplication by 1/1000, has always been rare in jargon (there is,
   however, a standard joke about the millihelen -- notionally, the
   amount of beauty required to launch one ship). See the entries on
   {micro-}, {pico-}, and {nano-} for more information on connotative
   jargon use of these terms. `Femto' and `atto' (which, interestingly,
   derive not from Greek but from Danish) have not yet acquired jargon
   loadings, though it is easy to predict what those will be once
   computing technology enters the required realms of magnitude (however,
   see {attoparsec}).

   There are, of course, some standard unit prefixes for powers of 10. In
   the following table, the `prefix' column is the international standard
   prefix for the appropriate power of ten; the `binary' column lists
   jargon abbreviations and words for the corresponding power of 2. The
   B-suffixed forms are commonly used for byte quantities; the words
   `meg' and `gig' are nouns that may (but do not always) pluralize with
   `s'.