Oh, it's perfectly reliable, Steve -- just nonsensical.
The U.S. gallon (128 U.S. fluid ounces) has always been different from the
Imperial Gallon (160 Imperial fluid ounces). Not surprisingly, many
Canadians were confused by U.S. gas mileage claims (thinking U.S. cars were
even less economical than was actually the case). Since Canada switched to
liters for gasoline, I suspect they have simply ignored the claims in U.S.
car ads, as the liter is very clearly nothing like a U.S. gallon.
Just a correction, though; the U.S. has never used Imperial. What it has
used and persists in using is officially known as U.S. Customary. You may
have seen a couple of the alternative names we often use on this list
server -- WOMBAT (Way of Measuring Badly in America Today, or Waste of
Money, Brains and Time) and FFU (Fred Flintstone Units).
Bill Potts, CMS
Roseville, CA
http://metric1.org [SI Navigator]
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On
> Behalf Of Stephen Davis
> Sent: July 09, 2001 14:36
> To: U.S. Metric Association
> Subject: [USMA:14257] Imperial Knowledge.
>
>
> America seems to be one of the last bastions of the imperial system, yet I
> would ask this.
>
> How many Americans actually know how many ounces there are in a pound, or
> how many pints there are in each gallon?
>
> The imperial system is deemed so good by it's supporters, yet I understand
> the US gallon is different to the British gallon, so it's not a very
> reliable measurement, is it?
>
> Regards,
>
> Steve.
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>
>
>
