“亿万”即一亿个万,是一个了不得的数字。亿也可读作“万万”,即一万个万。一亿个万和一万个万,差距是非常非常巨大的。可是,我们很多报道中,却把“亿万”当“万万”(亿)使用,造成不应有的谬误。其实这个问题,报刊载文作过说明,可没引起有些作者和编者的重视。前几年,《人民日报》发表过一篇报告文学,题目叫做《在南方,有个亿万富翁》,作者是名家,文章也挺感人,可是错把“亿万”当“亿元”了。1994年第11期《半月谈》杂志里面竟有两处这样的错误:一是《“抠门”的亿万富翁》,二是《从亿万富翁到总理》。这两位“富翁”一个只有6.5亿,一个只有15亿。换算成万的话,一个是6.5万个万,一个是15万个万,离亿个万差得远。著名作家和《人民日报》、《半月谈》这样高档次报刊用错这个“概念”实在 “Hundreds of millions” means one hundred million, an incredible figure. One hundred million can also be read as “millions”, that is, ten thousand million. One hundred million and one million, the gap is very, very huge. However, many of our reports have used “hundreds of millions” as “millions” (billions), causing unwarranted fallacies. In fact, this issue, the newspaper published as an explanation, did not cause some authors and editors attention. A few years ago, “People’s Daily” published a reportage entitled “There is a billionaire in the south.” The author is a famous person, and the article is touching. However, it is wrong to regard “hundreds of millions” as “100 million yuan” . There are actually two such mistakes in “Half Moon Talk” magazine in 1994: one is “Stingy” billionaire; the other is “From billionaire to prime minister.” The two “millionaires” are only 650 million and only 1.5 billion. Converted into million words, one is 65,000 million, one is 150,000 million, far from millions of miles. Well-known writers and “People’s Daily”, “half-moon talk,” such a high-grade newspapers and magazines use this “concept” really