The Americans don't even have the same gallons, pints or fl Oz as the British Imperial system!
Lose hope all ye who enter here!!!
I lived in Thailand for several years and the decorative order of the house that I rented was to say the least rather poor. So, I asked the landlord if he would be happy if I gave the living room a coat of paint. The walls were concrete but had been finished to a pretty high standard. He agreed and so I measured up the surface area of the walls deducted the windows and doors and arrived at a total area that I calculated would require 4.5 litres of paint for 2 coats. Off I went to the local DIY hypermarket, a place called Baan and Beyond Where I asked them for a 5 litre pot of the shade that I had chosen (the palest grey in their range). “No litre here sir! Only gallon here”. I had somehow stumbled on the only DIY outlet I'm guessing in Thailand where they sell paint in gallons and not litres. Thailand is to all intents and purposes completely metricated so I was very, very surprised! From my school days I remembered that one gallon equals about 4.5 litres so I asked for a gallon. That was fine until I arrived home and I thought that doesn't actually look like a 4.5 litre pot so I looked carefully at the label and it was marked 1 US gallon which equals 3.75 litres not 4.5 litres. That's the difference between a US gallon = 3.75 litres and a British gallon = 4.5 litres! In the end, I had to go back to the DIY store and get another pot because 3.75 litres was just not quite enough to finish the job. My calculations we're nothing if not accurate and I was roughly half a litre short!
