What Does 'K' Mean in Salary Offers Like 12K or 15K? Let's Discuss!

Dear all,

Please let me know what 'K' stands for? (Ex. we would like to offer you 12K or 15K.)

Regards

Hello Murali,

'K' stands for Kilo--but not in terms of the weight measure we in India are used to. Kilo also means 1,000 numerically. So 12K means 12,000 [Rs or $ or whatever the currency is]. Basically it's an American term to denote salaries, since their counting is always in thousands--like 1,000, 10,000, 100,000 [we term this as 1 Lakh], 1,000,000-meaning 1 million [our term for this is 10 lakhs].... and so on. Now this has become the global standard of terming salaries--thanks to the IT boom :-)

Rgds,
TS

An answer at Rediff is quoted below:

"3.K stands for 1000. 1k means 1000. It is derived from the computer term kilobyte."

Answered by Gautam Duttachowdhury, 15 Nov '07, 10:39 pm

K stands for kilo; kilo = 1000 units of base measurement in the metric system.

1 kilometer = 1000 meters.

1 kilogram = 1000 grams.

1 kiloliter = 1000 milliliters.

1 kilo rupee = 1000 rupees.

The kilo prefix is derived from the Greek word "chilioi" (χίλιοι), meaning thousand. It was originally adopted by Antoine Lavoisier and his group in 1795, and introduced into the metric system in France with its establishment in 1799.

Dear Murali,

As you asked, the meaning of "K" here stands for thousand. It originates from the Y2K (Year 2000) problem in computers.

Regards,
Naresh Grover

My dear,

K stands for 1000.
1k = 1000
100k = 1,00,000.

Also,
1Cr = 1,00,00,000.

I want to share one more word with you - even some people don't know about this:
1s = 10
10s = 100

Very few people use this word.

Thanks & regards,
Vemula Sivamahesh

In Roman script, numbers are expressed as letters -
I for 1
II for 2
L for 50.
Similarly,
K represents 1000
which means 12K is 12000.
It's just a slang.

Dear Murali,

"K" is the short form for Kilo, which means thousand. So, 1K = 1000. Didn't you hear about the Y2K problem? It was the year 2000, and computer operators all over the world feared that all computers would crash or go haywire due to the two-digit years they had been programmed with, and the year 2000 had two zeros as the last two digits.

Regards,
Balakrishnan

Hi,
It is from a measuring system. Instead of writing 1000 we can write 103 or as ‘k' (kilo). Before the computer term byte occupies the dictionary our peoples used both ‘K' and ‘k'. In computer terms 1024 byte = 1 kilo byte. Hence these people used ‘K'. So for representing 10000 it must be 10 k and not 10 K.

Originally, in the IT industry where it has gained fame, "K" stands for 1024 bytes (2 raised to the power of 10 = 1024 bytes). However, in short, it is known as 1 Kilobyte. Now, 1024 is often used interchangeably with 1000 to denote the value of 1000. Historically, "Kilo" has always represented 1000, for example:
- 1 Kilogram = 1000 grams
- 1 Kiloliter = 1000 ml
- 1 Kilometer = 1000 meters, and so forth.

Anuraag

'K' stands for kilogram. Kilogram equals 1000 grams. "Kilo" denotes 1000 grams. 10k denotes Rs. 10,000/-.