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Because the Dutch measurement system is rather different than the American measurement system, this page contains the most common units: temperature, weight, volume, length and money. Also the logics between the different measures in America is explained, because it's rather unlogical for guys from the Netherlands.
In Amerika they use degrees Fahrenheit. Of course that takes some getting used to, especially if you talk about how warm or cold it is outside. 0 °F is not the same as 0 °C. 0 °F is defined as the temperature were 1 part ice, 1 part water and 1 part salt are in stable balance. 100 °F is defined as approximately the body temperature. Here in Connecticut that's quite a logical scale, because the temperature outside is mostly between 0 °F and 100 °F.
For cooking purposes, it's usually sufficient to multiply by 2.
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°C |
°F |
In the beginning I really struggled with the weights. The most used is the pound and the ounce. A pound is abbreviated as lb and is approximately a Dutch "pond" (half a kilo), just a bit less actually. An ounce is certainly not a Dutch "ons", but a sixteenth of a pound.
Furthermore they have the stone, which is 14 pound, but luckily this is rarely used.
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kg
gram
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oz
lb
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Also the length is logical (NOT). To start with, everything is in inches, which is approximately 2.5 centimeters. 12 inches are a foot, and 3 foot is a yard. Larger distances are expressed in miles: 1 mile is 1760 yard, which is 1.6 kilometer.
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meter
cm
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inch
foot
yard
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km
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miles
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More fuzzy measure if we're talking about volume. A gallon can be understood, but after that come the fluid ounces, the cup, the pint, the tablespoon and the teaspoon.
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liter
ml
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floz
quart
gallon
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From euros to dollars is kind of easy. Actually, it is 1.27 times a euro, but for easy calculation, I consider them the same. Only with larger spendings you'll have to calculate more precize.
$ = €