AT THE CHEESE COUNTER

UK supermarkets have used the metric system since the 1970s. Some older shoppers might still ask for their produce in ounces, but the shop assistant will simply convert it into metric in their head. Outdoor fruit and vegetable markets, however, are a more traditional institution and some of them seem to run a dual system, advertising the prices in both pounds (“lb”) and kilos.

An older customer is at the cheese counter in a supermarket. Read this conversation and then do the exercise below.

Shop assistant: What can I get you?

Customer: I’d like a nice big piece of that Cheddar, please. A pound, or perhaps a bit less.

Shop assistant: OK, this piece is 420 g, that’s a bit less than a pound. A couple of ounces under. It’s £4.80. Is that OK?

Customer: Yes, that’s fine. And that bit of blue cheese, please.

Shop assistant: Let’s weigh it. 210 g, £3.98.

Customer: What’s that? About half a pound?

Shop assistant: Yes, just under.

Customer: Perfect! Thank you.

RECIPES

Recipes are all printed in metric in the UK, with grams for weight and millilitres for volume. American recipes use the imperial system, with ounces for weight and fluid ounces for volume. Very often, however, American recipes use “cups” as a measurement, not only for liquids, but also for dry ingredients such as flour and sugar. This makes it quicker and easier to measure while you’re baking because you don’t need scales – but there isn’t a quick way to convert these “cups” into grams as that depends on the ingredient: a cup of sugar weighs more than a cup of flour, for example.

Read the two lists of ingredients below. They are for the same dish, but the first is from an American website and the second from a British one. Compare the two recipes and then answer the questions below.

Drinks are another area of life where the UK is still running a dual system of measures. Draught beer is served in pints (or half pints); bottled beer and cans are sold in metric millilitres. Glasses of wine and measures of spirits are also given in metric.

In the US, fluid ounces (often just called “ounces”) are used. In Europe, our regular cans of fizzy drink are 330 ml; the American equivalent is a 12 oz can.

For experts only!

To be precise, a US pint equals 16 fl. oz, whereas a UK pint equals 20 fl. oz. However, fluid ounces are not the same across the Atlantic: a British fluid ounce is about 28.4 ml, whereas a US fluid ounce is about 29.6 ml. So, in fact, a pint in the US is slightly less than a pint in Britain (about 474 ml rather than 568 ml). Is your head spinning yet? And not from the alcohol, we hope!

Read this UK pub conversation and then do the exercise below.

Customer: Hi. Do you have any alcohol-free beer?

Barman: Yes, we have Becks Blue on draught – that’s a lager. And we have Ghost Ship in 500 ml bottles – that’s a pale ale. We also have Punk AF in small 330 ml cans – that’s a good craft ale.

Customer: I think I’ll try the Becks.

Barman: Pint or half?

Customer: Just a half, I think. I’ll see if I like it first.