What is the meaning of 'K' in 20K or 30K or 40K when disclosing price?
6 Answers
True. The letter is described to show '1000'. The prefix 'kilo' is derived from the Greek word chilioi or khilioi. Its short form was used for the metric system.
I still remember the first time I heard of 'K' used for 1000 other than kilogram or kilometer was when the 'Y2K' bug threatened the entire world! I was curious to know and discovered that it was 'Year 2000 bug'. Since then, using 'K' for a thousand (anything) hasn't been an uncommon usage.
Good read is here on a Math Forum
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@Maulik V How is this 'k' pronounced? For example: Can 20k simply be pronounced as 'twenty k'?– DinushaJul 7, 2016 at 20:32
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4
The SI prefix for a thousand is kilo-, officially abbreviated as k—for instance, prefixed to "metre" or its abbreviation m, kilometre or km signifies a thousand metres. As such, people occasionally represent the number in a non-standard notation by replacing the last three zeros of the general numeral with "k": for instance, 30k for 30,000.
It's short for "thousand", just like how kilometers (km) are a thousand meters (m).
Also, in computers K means 2**10 (two to the 10th power) = 1024. But in prices (or miles on car) it means 1000.
As such, people occasionally represent the number in a non-standard notation by replacing the last three zeros of the general numeral with "K": for instance, 30K for 30,000.
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1Welcome to ELL! The other two answers from more than a year ago already mentioned this point; can you add more to the answer to make it stand out? Mar 31, 2016 at 23:58
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