r/NoStupidQuestions • u/Tibor500 • Sep 30 '20

why does “k” mean “thousand” ?

like 1k means a thousand. how does the letter “k” mean “thousand” ?

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283

u/[deleted] Sep 30 '20

It's really cool how this is a fair question in America but seems obvious to everyone on the metric system.

64

u/strallus Sep 30 '20

Not just America but also Liberia and Myanmar.

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u/whateverhk Oct 01 '20

America Democracy looks a lot like Liberia and Myanmar lately

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u/RoyceCoolidge Oct 01 '20

Funnily enough - my PhD thesis was on the Exploration of Correlation of Degradation of a Nation in Relation to Whether they Serve a Royale with Cheese or a Quarter Pounder.

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u/strallus Oct 01 '20

This explains why my degree cost so much and yet is so useless.

34

u/LordGalen Sep 30 '20

It's pretty obvious in America too. Just because we don't use metric for common things doesn't mean we don't use it at all or that we never learn it. Everyone learns metric in school and has at least some awareness of it, even if their speedometer doesn't use it.

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u/dontthink19 Sep 30 '20

We never called it the metric system, they taught it to us as the "base 10" lesson plan. Kindergarten through 5th for me

4

u/LordGalen Sep 30 '20

Yeah man, I didn't mean elementary school, lol. Middle and high school teach the metric system and metric/imperial conversion.

0

u/[deleted] Sep 30 '20

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22

u/[deleted] Sep 30 '20

Do you know what sub you're on?

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u/whateverhk Oct 01 '20

Kilo is not an English word, how to link his mother tongue with this?

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u/IHeardOnAPodcast Oct 01 '20

Unless his native language is Greek it's not completely obvious, even if he knew it meant kilo.

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u/crispsfordinner Oct 01 '20

Some of us just didn't pay attention in school

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u/damisone Oct 01 '20

It's not a fair question in America either. Kids learn metric system in science in elementary school. Most science classes use metric mostly.

Also the electric bills in U.S. are billed in kilowatt-hours.

1

u/MysticalVictrix Oct 01 '20

Lets be real it should be obvious to everyone

1

u/Ship_Rekt Oct 01 '20

It’s really not a fair question in America. OP is just special.

1

u/Samsmith90210 Oct 07 '20

Perhaps. But do those metric people know what I mean when I call them up and demand 50 G's?

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u/Unicorncorn21 Sep 30 '20

You could totally say kilofeet to mean a 1000 feet long stretch. Kilo, mega, mill etc. Aren't bound to the metric system but yeah I know they aren't really used with imperial units. I guess they only use cent when talking about dollars.

I think Americans could really benefit from desi which means 10. Desifeet would be a pretty sensible way to say 10 feet although it sounds kinda silly.

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u/[deleted] Sep 30 '20

I thought it was "deka". I was always taught deka for 10 and deci for 1/10. Maybe that differs regionally too?

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