# Why is a pound 454 grams if water is 1g/mL? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 19, 2011, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-pound-454-grams-if-water-is-1g-ml/593364 "2011-08-19T20:00:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-pound-454-grams-if-water-is-1g-ml/593364/21 "2011-08-21T14:54:40Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Also, pronouncing plantain as it is spelled is not a mispronunciation, but a regionalism in the U.S. In fact, I have never heard it pronounce plan-tin in my entire life. I’ve never heard it pronounced in my life, and despite being an Alton Brown fan, I just don’t remember it (and I think I would; it drives me crazy when he pronounces “greasy” as “grea **z** y”). So another SDMB victory. I’ve always read “plantain” and imagined that it was pronounced thus. Many online dictionaries and Google prefer the “plantin” pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-pound-454-grams-if-water-is-1g-ml/593364/22 "2011-08-21T15:13:57Z")
> [@](#): > > A pint of water > Weighs a pound and a quarter > [@Chronos](#): > > In American pronunciation, “water” != “warter”. Though it’s closer than the rhymes you’ll find in a lot of poems and songs. And this is a _good thing_,™ as the rhyme is not true in America. In Britain, where it rhymes (because a **t** is actually pronounced as a **t** and not a **d** ), the rhyme is also true. The American rhyme, because it falsely claims to be true everywhere, is not true anywhere ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-pound-454-grams-if-water-is-1g-ml/593364/23 "2011-08-21T18:47:41Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > In Britain, where it rhymes (because a **t** is actually pronounced as a **t** and not a **d** ), the rhyme is also true. But it’s the vowels that fail to rhyme in American English. ---
**Author:** ![Curid1992](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Curid1992](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Curid1992)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-pound-454-grams-if-water-is-1g-ml/593364/24 "2015-07-10T09:57:31Z")
In the UK, a pound is equal to 454 grams… But a pint is 568 ml! Hence, a pound cannot be equal to a pint… I wouldn’t worry about this too much because the Metric system is better and everything works out nicely with metric. In metric, 1g = 1ml, so 1kg = 1 litre etc. Much easier to work with. 🙂 Hence, in my opinion, the Metric system is far better than the Imperial system and hopefully one day, the US will also convert to Metric. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-pound-454-grams-if-water-is-1g-ml/593364/25 "2015-07-10T11:35:17Z")
> [@Curid1992](#): > > … and hopefully one day, the US will also convert to Metric. 😉 But it will take longer than four years (the age of this thread) ---
**Author:** ![tonyfop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/85f322/32.png) [@tonyfop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonyfop)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-pound-454-grams-if-water-is-1g-ml/593364/26 "2015-07-10T11:50:28Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > A _ **real** _ gallon of water is 10 pounds. Can’t get any simpler than that. Wow, that’s some expensive water! How much is that in dollars?😉 ---
**Author:** ![Curid1992](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Curid1992](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Curid1992)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-pound-454-grams-if-water-is-1g-ml/593364/27 "2015-07-10T12:22:50Z")
> [@tonyfop](#): > > Wow, that’s some expensive water! How much is that in dollars?😉 It depends on the current exchange rate… Ok, according to Google, £10 = $15.52. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-pound-454-grams-if-water-is-1g-ml/593364/28 "2015-07-10T19:59:15Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > In Britain, where it rhymes (because a **t** is actually pronounced as a **t** and not a **d** ), the rhyme is also true. No, because in American English, the ‘t’ is pronounced the same in both words. The reason it rhymes in British English (of some ilks) is because the Brits don’t pronounce their r’s, thus “at” = “art”. Yeah, I know it’s a zombie, but njtt is still around. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-pound-454-grams-if-water-is-1g-ml/593364/29 "2015-07-10T20:12:27Z")
Next thing your’re going to tell me is a quart isn’t a liter. Or a litre, for that matter. ---
**Author:** ![bizerta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@bizerta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizerta)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-pound-454-grams-if-water-is-1g-ml/593364/30 "2015-07-10T23:32:22Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > An imperial gallon is 160 (fluid) ounces. A US gallon is 128 fluid ounces. However, they are not even the same ounces… > > Thanks to Wikipedia: > > A _ **real** _ gallon of water is 10 pounds. Can’t get any simpler than that. That’s like rounding pi to 3. A US gallon is 128 liquid ounces, 231 cubic inches (by definition), 3785.4 ml. A gallon of water weighs 133.53 ounces, or about 8.35 pounds. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-pound-454-grams-if-water-is-1g-ml/593364/31 "2015-07-10T23:50:48Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > I’ve never heard it pronounced in my life, and despite being an Alton Brown fan, I just don’t remember it (and I think I would; it drives me crazy when he pronounces “greasy” as “grea **z** y”). So another SDMB victory. I’ve always read “plantain” and imagined that it was pronounced thus. Many online dictionaries and Google prefer the “plantin” pronunciation. I never heard any but the plant-n pronunciation (vocalic n). I remembered reading once in a phonetics book the claim that in Philadelphia the 40th parallel (Lehigh Ave.) divides the people who say greasy to the north and greazy to the south. Well, I grew up south not only of Lehigh Ave., but of Market St. and never heard greazy in my life. The same book claimed that l is given a lateral pronunciation everywhere in the English speaking world. Well, in my pronunciation, the initial l of lateral is lateral and the final l is not. So much for phonetics books. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-pound-454-grams-if-water-is-1g-ml/593364/32 "2015-07-10T23:56:34Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > I’ve never heard it pronounced in my life, and despite being an Alton Brown fan, I just don’t remember it (and I think I would; it drives me crazy when he pronounces “greasy” as “grea **z** y”). So another SDMB victory. I’ve always read “plantain” and imagined that it was pronounced thus. Many online dictionaries and Google prefer the “plantin” pronunciation. I never heard any but the plant-n pronunciation (vocalic n). I remembered reading once in a phonetics book the claim that in Philadelphia the 40th parallel (Lehigh Ave.) divides the people who say greasy to the north and greazy to the south. Well, I grew up south not only of Lehigh Ave., but of Market St. and never heard greazy in my life. The same book claimed that l is given a lateral pronunciation everywhere in the English speaking world. Well, in my pronunciation, the initial l of lateral is lateral and the final l is not. So much for phonetics books. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-pound-454-grams-if-water-is-1g-ml/593364/33 "2015-07-11T00:41:05Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > In American pronunciation, “water” != “warter”. Except in Baltimore (“Balmer” in the local patois.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-pound-454-grams-if-water-is-1g-ml/593364.md?page=1)