🚀 go-pugleaf

A few weeks ago there was discussion about the usage of K meaning 1024.
(This posting is NOT intended to revive it!!  To this end, followups
have been directed to me.)

I believe that some people said that no dictionaries listed this usage.
I asked a friend who has electronic access to the new 2nd edition
Oxford English Dictionary to check this out, and here's a part of what
he found (reformatted, as he sent me the information in SGML).
Presented for your information...

#   [From its use as an abbrev. for kilo-.]   In connection with Computers
#   K or k is used to represent 1,000 (or 1,024: see quot. 1970 ).  Also used
#   transf. to represent 1,000 (pounds, etc.), esp. of salaries offered in
#   job advertisements.
#   
#   1966, P. D. Reynolds (Computer ABC, 54):
#   The internal storage of computers is commonly arranged ... to hold a
#   quantity of data which is some power of 2, for example, 4096 characters,
#   bytes or words, which is 2 [sup] 12. The convention is to refer to this
#   number as 4K. 64K ... amounts to 65,536 (2 [sup] 16).
#   
#   1967, Cox & Grose (Organiz. Bibliogr. Rec. by Computer, ii. 2):
#   It seemed desirable ... wherever possible to ignore the limitations of
#   the computer available to us (a KDF 9 with a store size of 16 K 48-bit
#   words).
#   
#   1968, Data Communications Sept. 143/3 (Advt.):
#   Engineers, Mini-Micro Programmers, Analysts ... Salaries $15-45K.
#   
#   1970, O. Dopping (Computers & Data Processing, ii. 35):
#   Sometimes, a `K' is used for a number which is either 1,000 or 1,024,
#   depending on whether the context calls for integral powers of 10 or 2.
#   If we say that a certain computer has a memory capacity of 4 K words,
#   then, this means either 4,000 or 4,096 words, depending on whether
#   the computer in question has a decimal or binary address system.
#   However, the usage is a little loose: the number 2 [sup] 16 = 65,536
#   is written either as 64 K or 65 K.

-- 
Mark Brader		   "... there is no such word as 'impossible' in
SoftQuad Inc., Toronto	    my dictionary.  In fact, everything between
utzoo!sq!msb		  'herring' and 'marmalade' appears to be missing."
m...@sq.com	    -- Douglas Adams:  Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

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