Do American Weights and Measures vary from British?
Question asked by Arthur H, Longbeach CA June 2003 Some of my books have been republished in the US, and the weights are ‘Americanised’ Most American weights and measures are the same as those in the UK, but there are a few notable exceptions. Apart from the fact that British are following Europe by going metric, (into grams and litres) whereas America is not, even for those who stick doggedly to the old Imperial measures (pounds and ounces, fluid ounces and pints). But it is not that simple. US ounces and pounds are the same as UK ones, but the US have 16 fl oz to the pint, whereas the British have 20 fl oz. Not only that, the US gallon is smaller than the UK gallon, for historical reasons. (1 US gallon = 0.83267 Brit gallons). When it comes to cupfuls, it sounds easy, but guess what … it isn’t! Primarily, an American fluid cupful is US 8 fl oz. In the UK it is 8.3fl oz = 237ml. Solids weighed by cupful vary considerably, because of different densities of different ingredients. For
