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In Australia at least, a "six figure sum" is synonymous with an amount over $1,000,000.

The last time I checked, 1000000 had seven digits in it.

To quote a recent article in Melbourne's highest circulating newspaper:

Has Channel 9, a publicly listed company, paid at least a six-figure sum, or several million dollars to get is (sic) employees out of Lebanon?

Bohemian
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    I've never heard this (in the US). Incidentally, one million = 10^6, but that yields seven digits, as you say. – Jonathan S. May 06 '16 at 14:36
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    They do so because they never joined this site and asked what a six figure sum is. They should. – vickyace May 06 '16 at 14:36
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    @vicky this is not a duplicate. I edited the question to reference a recent online article that shows this specific (incorrect) usage. Perhaps it is endemic to Australia. – Bohemian May 06 '16 at 14:54
  • I think that this is just a mistake in the article. You'll need more evidence than this to say that it's "synonymous with an amount over $1,000,000 in Australia" – Max Williams May 06 '16 at 15:05
  • Also it's not clear from that article whether the reporter means "a six-figure sum, or several million dollars (which are two different things)" or "a six-figure sum, or several million dollars (which is another way of saying a six-figure sum)" – Max Williams May 06 '16 at 15:06
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    Here in the USA references to people earning 6 figures are common, but we never understand that to mean a million or more. – frank May 06 '16 at 15:16
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    Why? Because they're wrong, and don't know any better. – Wayfaring Stranger May 06 '16 at 15:48
  • I read the quoted article as saying "[they] paid at least a six-figure sum, or [sometimes as much as] several million dollars". – TrevorD May 06 '16 at 16:08
  • @max well, I can say that I've only ever heard it used this way - I'll hunt for more references. Regarding the "or" ambiguity, there is no chance they meant "$100K", which would be peanuts given the scenario. – Bohemian May 06 '16 at 16:26
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    Anyone who thinks a 6-figure sum means 1,000,000 or more has figures confused with zeroes. – ab2 May 07 '16 at 13:24
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    hi @Bohemian dude. it's just a case of "you're wrong" here bud. i lived in Aus. for years and Australians are not particularly silly or illiterate. everyone there in business etc. uses the ordinary phrase "six figures" (meaning 'about $200,000 - $500,000'') the same as in every other English speaking country. It's totally commonplace. (1) you're interpreting the text wrong as Max and Trevor point out (2) it's *just a typo* - an utterly commonplace "so what?" occurance in newspapers (3) "I'll hunt for more references" you'd be wasting your time, but go for it. – Fattie May 10 '16 at 13:50
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    Just FWIW you say "... would be peanuts given the scenario". Nah, a few hundred thousand dollars, perhaps 1/2 million dollars, (i.e "six figures") is a Lot of Money and could trivially achieve the thing under discussion. Dude *It's just a typo* - "just a typo"s come up often on this site, honest it's nothing more than that. They tend to generate a huge amount of discussion but it's just nothing other than a typo or hurried writing; typos and miswritings are the norm in newspapers. Ask 20 Aussies working in high paid fields , they use "six figures" like anyone else in the world. – Fattie May 10 '16 at 13:51

2 Answers2

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"Six figures" usually refers to amounts over 100,000, not amounts over 1,000,000.

Yesterday's question on what six figures means is related.

Community
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jejorda2
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I would say that "Over 6 figures" must mean 7 or more (1,000,000). Referring not so much to 100,001 being "over 6 figures" in value, but the actual number of figures being the subject of the saying.

sorry for broken grammar, I'm seconds from finishing work :P

MaximusOutrider
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