Text: American English has always used the short scale definition but British English once employed both versions. Historically, the United Kingdom used the long scale billion but since 1974 official UK statistics have used the short scale. Since the 1950s the short scale has been increasingly used in technical writing and journalism, although the long scale definition still enjoys some limited usage.

Question: is an american billion the same as a british billion?

Choices: 1). no. 2). yes.
2).