Laura wrote: >What is the official name of the system used in the United States?
I have seen the names 'US customary system' and 'Inch pound system' on the major laws. A search of the website of a leading authority (NIST) provides 66 hits for 'Inch pound' and 2 hits for 'US customary'. The phrase 'US customary' is specific to the USA. The phrase 'inch pound' could be interpreted to include the units used in the USA and in Britain. If you search the web, you will find a variety of other names. If you want to indicate the units in use in the United States, I recommend that you *avoid* using the following words for the system as a whole: 'English', 'British', 'Imperial'. It would be bizarre to distinguish between the 'English system gallon used in the USA' and the quite different 'gallon used in England'.
