If it's not metric, then it's...

[ai731]

Hi gang,

I have a vocabulary question. What do you (Americans) call your measuring system? I call it "Imperial" but I don't know if that's a standard term or if that's just what we called it here in Canada, back in the old days.

I ask because I'm a proofreader / copy editor and I'm editing a software manual that has called it the "customary" system, which doesn't look right to me

Thanks!
Jan

[raymilosh]

I hear it referred to as "standard" or a little less frequently as "English"

[dixienc]

Originally Posted by ai731

Hi gang,

I have a vocabulary question. What do you (Americans) call your measuring system? I call it "Imperial" but I don't know if that's a standard term or if that's just what we called it here in Canada, back in the old days.

I ask because I'm a proofreader / copy editor and I'm editing a software manual that has called it the "customary" system, which doesn't look right to me

Thanks!
Jan

According to this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_measurement, customary is correct. I always referred to it as US measures.

[fordson major]

well, US measure is what we always called it! any magmeter we set up had imperial/metric/US mesurment. slightly different than imperial.

[HermitJohn]

Originally Posted by raymilosh

I hear it referred to as "standard" or a little less frequently as "English"

Thats way I always heard it called, usually "English". Imperial was the system used in Canada and Britain and probably other Commonwealth nations before they went metric. For example the US gallon is 4 quart and I think Imperial gallon is 5 quart.

What I hate is having more than one measuring system in use at same time. I dont give a flying fig what that system is, just pick one and go with it. Same thing with language, if people want Spanish, fine pick Spanish and I'll learn it. Just make it the only national language, I just dont want everything in 6 different languages, especially those automated buisiness answering systems.

[MushCreek]

SAE- Society of Automotive Engineers. That's the proper name. I wish the US would go metric and be done with it- it's really much easier. As A toolmaker, I've been trained in both, and despite 35 years of SAE, I'd rather be metric. The US is the only country of note that isn't metric.

[plowjockey]

Another common term for U.S. vs metric measurments is SAE - Standard American Equivalent.

[Joshie]

Ummm we usually don't call it anything. You just say, "Go get the measuring cups."

[ai731]

Originally Posted by dixienc

According to this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_measurement, customary is correct. I always referred to it as US measures.

Yeah, I suspect that's where the original author of the document got it from - their English is good, but they are obviously not a native speaker.

I'm tempted to change it to either "Standard American" or "American Standard".

Jan

[Menglish]

SAE is what I've always heard it called. To be honest I don't know if i ever heard what SAE stands for. lol

[paintlady]

I have always heard it referred to as the standard method of measurement.

Hello everyone! I've been lurking on Homesteading Today for ages. I have learned so much here over the months & years.

Anyway, to answer your question, I believe the system is called avoirdupois. That is what I learned way back in elementary school.

[salmonslayer]

Wow, I havent heard avoirdupois in decades; thats a measurement of weight or volume that matches the US non-metric weight measurements. The proper term I think your looking for is "American" "American Standard", "Standard" or the currently used "United States Customary". Imperial measurements are not the same as United States Customary and there are many customary measurement systems (Avoirdupois is one of them).

[culpeper]

I know it as Standard American. This is based on the Imperial or avoirdupois system, but it's not exactly the same. America made certain peculiar adjustments (like the pint and gallon and the tablespoon, for instance.) Goodness knows why.

America, you simply HAVE to go metric and catch up with the rest of the world! It is SO much easier, especially for the mathematically-challenged like myself.

My son is an aircraft accident investigator, and told me that lives are at risk because America won't 'go metric'. He tells more than one story of American workers outside America, who put the wrong amount of fuel in a plane, working on the American system they're familiar with - and the plane has run out of fuel and required emergency landings. Also of the wrong size nuts and bolts and things being used, which have weakened the structure - because the mechanics haven't done their metric homework, or have made the wrong conversion calculations.

Scary stuff, people! Think of mistakes being made in dosages of prescription drugs - all sorts of things resulting in a lack of standardisation.

[VarmitSniper]

SAE or Standard is what I've heard it called.

[MushCreek]

I worked for the one-time largest manufacturer of electrical connectors. They issued a decree in the mid-80's that the company would be fully metric in a year's time. They made a huge investment in equipment and training, yet abandoned the effort after a year. Get this- almost all of their products WERE metric! They went back to converting everything, instead of fully integrating metric metrology. The US has been threatening to go metric for a long time. Back in the early 70's, it was said that we would be fully metric in 10 years. I had a small business building wooden boats, so I decided to design and build using metric measurement so I would be ahead of the curve. You should have seen those crusty old New Englanders when I told them a boat was 5 meters long. They thought I was some kind of commie!

[fatrat]

I am a machinist and in machining school and the shops I have worked in I have always heard the measuring system in the U.S.A. referred to as "English". Also, SAE does not stand for standard american equivalent. Mushcreek is right, it stands for Society of Automotive Engineers and they set standards for many different things.

[raymilosh]

Omigosh,
Reading all these posts has made me laugh out loud. The correct answer is as clear as mud. I didn't count, but I bet there are more than 7 distinctly different answers to your simple question. Tee hee hee.

Americans..sheesh. I still don't know my own measuring system...ozs per cup and pecs per bushel and how many hundred weights per acrefoot and how many furlongs per fortnight and what gage is which caliber. wow

Metric is based in tens, which is convenient, because that's how many fingers i have. Easy.

Anyhow, i'd pick one of the answers that sounds right to your ear and go with it.

[Ohio dreamer]

I grew up using the term "standard English" for the US system. Here in Hungary (and I assume much of Europe) it is called "English".

Looks like there isn't an easy answer to you question. Does anyone, other the then US, still use this non-metric system?

[farminghandyman]

Originally Posted by MushCreek

SAE- Society of Automotive Engineers. That's the proper name. I wish the US would go metric and be done with it- it's really much easier. As A toolmaker, I've been trained in both, and despite 35 years of SAE, I'd rather be metric. The US is the only country of note that isn't metric.

ONE OR THE OTHER (this mixed crap sucks)

NOT BOTH