There's a certain chauvinism that people in the USA exhibit when talking about measures. There's no particular benefit (aside from dividing by 10) to using the metric system, except that the terms are clear, and volume and weight are clearly distinguished. But when a US American says something is 4 ounces, she might immediately add that it is a weight measure or a volume measure. No surprise that school children and adults get confused when the same term is used for two very different things. A gram, or a kilogram, is a measure of weight; a cubic centimeter is a measure of volume (thus the word cubic). An ounce can be a measure of weight, or can be a measure of volume. A cup (8 ounces) is volume. If a cup weighs 4 ounces (that's right: weight), that is a very different thing. An 8-ounce cup can weigh 4 ounces. Thanks for touching on the oft-confusing subject of US measurements. You’re completely right in that it’s led to many moments of head-scratching and wrinkled brows throughout its tenure as a way of doing things. To make things simpler and more accurate, we provide conversion options for ounces or grams in our recipes and often encourage bakers to use a scale. English units of measurement are likely to stick around for a while yet and we genuinely hope their occasional clumsiness doesn’t get in the way of enjoying a good recipe! Jesse @ KAF

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