YOU SAY GAS MARK, I SAY FAHRENHEIT

How many kilometers in a mile? 10 measures that vary across the world

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While using the same measurement units in an increasingly globalized world seems like a great idea, putting this notion into practice is a logistical nightmare of universal proportions. This challenge arises because human societies have evolved separately for most of history, developing their own measurement systems and structuring their worlds around them. That is why we have miles and kilometers, kilograms and pounds, Celsius and Fahrenheit, and so on. We don’t know if the Big Unification of Measures will ever happen, but until then, we’ve created this short list of ten popular measurements used worldwide. Scroll on to see which ones you use!

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Believe it or not, both miles and kilometers literally mean "thousand" in their respective origins. Miles belong to the Imperial system, which is used only in the United States, Liberia, and Burma, while kilometers are part of the metric system, the standard adopted by the rest of the world. Although miles originated from the British Empire, the United Kingdom adopted kilometers in 1965 to support metrication.

Mile comes from the Latin word milia, meaning "thousand." In ancient Rome, one mile equaled a thousand paces. Today, one mile is equivalent to 1,609.34 meters or 1.60934 kilometers. Kilometers, on the other hand, are part of the metric system, also known as the International System of Units (SI). As the name suggests, 1 kilometer equals 1,000 meters, as the prefix kilo- comes from the Greek word for "thousand."

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A major difference between the pound and the kilogram is their regional use. The pound (lb) is commonly used in the United States and the United Kingdom for everyday weight measurements. And, on the other hand, the kilogram (kg) serves as the primary unit of mass in most countries, including the international standards.

A pound is defined as a unit of weight approximately equal to 454 grams. The kilogram, the international standard unit of mass in the metric system, is equal to 1,000 grams.

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The United States is one of the few nations that use Fahrenheit exclusively for everyday purposes. The scientific community primarily uses Celsius, although some fields require the Kelvin scale.

Both scales are based on the freezing and boiling points of water. In the Fahrenheit scale, water freezes at 32 degrees and boils at 212 degrees. In the Celsius scale, water freezes at 0 degrees and boils at 100 degrees.

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Gallons and liters are units of volume measurement, most commonly used for liquids. Gallons are divided into three categories. The Imperial gallon is defined as 4.54609 liters and is or was used in the UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and some Caribbean countries. The US gallon is defined as 3.785411784 liters and is used in the United States and some Latin American and Caribbean countries. The US dry gallon is defined as 4.40488377086 liters.

A liter equals one cubic decimeter (dm³) and occupies a volume of 10 cm × 10 cm × 10 cm. In countries that adopted the metric system after the establishment of the SI standard, consumer beverages are labeled almost exclusively in liters and milliliters.

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Moving on to more homely measures for a moment, the terms teaspoon and tablespoon may sound similar but represent different volumes and serve distinct purposes in the kitchen. A teaspoon, known for its small size, is ideal for precise measurements of smaller ingredient quantities. In contrast, a tablespoon is larger and used for serving or measuring greater amounts.

A teaspoon is a unit of volume commonly used in cooking and baking. It equals one-third of a tablespoon or approximately 5 milliliters. A tablespoon, a larger unit of volume, equals three teaspoons or about 15 milliliters.

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Like miles and kilometers, inches and centimeters represent two different measurement systems. Inches are part of the U.S. customary system, sometimes called the English system, while centimeters belong to the metric system.

The United States is the only industrialized nation that has not fully adopted the metric system. The meter is the fundamental unit on which the metric system is based. Because the metric system uses a standard conversion factor, it is generally considered easier to work with. Ten millimeters equal one centimeter, 10 centimeters equal one decimeter, and 10 decimeters equal one meter. One inch equals 2.54 centimeters.

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Electricity has many complexities, and the units used to measure its different properties can be difficult to understand for those unfamiliar with the topic. A kilowatt-hour (kWh) is a unit of energy representing the amount of electricity consumed when one kilowatt is used for one hour. A joule, on the other hand, is a fundamental unit of energy.

Since a watt is defined as one joule per second, and there are 3,600 seconds in an hour, one kilowatt-hour equals 3,600 kilojoules or 3.6 megajoules.

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Let’s head back to the kitchen for this one. While these old-time cooking measurements have no precise definitions, most sources suggest that a dash is roughly ⅛ of a teaspoon, while a pinch is about 1/16 of a teaspoon.

A dash typically refers to liquid ingredients, whereas a pinch, as its name suggests, is the amount of an ingredient—such as salt or dried herbs—that can be held between the thumb and forefinger.

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Non-British cooks might be puzzled when following a British recipe that requires oven use, as temperatures are often given in gas marks.

The gas mark is a temperature scale used on gas ovens in the UK, Ireland, and some Commonwealth nations. The term refers to the numbered settings on the oven dial, which control the heat. A gas mark of ¼ corresponds to 225°F, ½ to 250°F, and 1 to 275°F. A mark of 2 equals 300°F, with each subsequent mark increasing the temperature by 25°F.

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As the name suggests, a nautical mile is a unit of distance used primarily on large bodies of water, but it is also employed in air and space navigation. Historically, it was defined as the length of one minute of the meridian arc at the equator, so the Earth's polar circumference is approximately 21,600 nautical miles.

Today, the international nautical mile is defined as 1,852 meters (about 6,076 feet or 1.151 miles). The derived unit of speed is the knot, which is one nautical mile per hour.

Fancy a Soupe à l'Oignon?

Exotic food is just food. Learn what these world cuisine names mean

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Whenever browsing through the menu of a foreign restaurant, the names can make food appear exotic, fancy, enticing, or straight-out odd. In these cases, the logic dictates that we ask the waiter for help. But a few of these foreign dishes have become famous all over the world and their names pop up in all sorts of restaurants, not just foreign ones. Take a look at the following ten and see if you already know the meaning of any of them!

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A staple name when it comes to "fancy" meals, Coq au Vin is French for rooster in wine, even if the rooster is usually replaced with chicken. Coq au Vin was a peasant dish in origin due to the fact that rooster meat is tough and sinewy and it takes a long time to marinate and braise to make the meat tender.

As legend goes, this dish originated during the Roman conquest of Gaul. The rooster was a symbol of valor to the Gauls. The chief of the tribe Arverne sent a symbolic rooster to Julius Caesar to show they would never be defeated. Caesar returned this gesture with a surprising twist, serving the chief with a delicious dish of rooster in wine.

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A literal translation of "spring pasta", Pasta Primavera certainly sounds Italian. But this dish originated in 70s America, not Italy. Sirio Maccioni, the co-owner of New York restaurant Le Cirque, initially introduced pasta primavera as an off-menu special.

Maccioni is said to have taken a dish of pasta, vegetables, and cream his wife had mixed from a hunger-induced raid of their kitchen, refined it, and started serving it to his guests. Despite its humble beginnings, pasta primavera gained huge popularity amongst diners and critics, eventually being adopted by home cooks in America and beyond.

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Just pronouncing the name of this dish sounds like speaking French. Vichyssoise is a soup made of cooked and mashed leeks, potatoes, onions, and cream, served chilled and garnished with chopped chives. It was invented in the early 20th century by Louis Diat, a cook working as head chef of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in New York.

Leek and potato soup is a traditional staple of French cuisine. 19th-century French cookbooks give recipes for a simple leek and potato soup, called potage Parmentier or potage à la Parmentier. The name Vichyssoise means "ice-cold cream from Vichy".

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A familiar yet exotic name, Chicken Tikka Masala is a dish consisting of roasted marinated chicken chunks in a spiced sauce, often creamy and orange-colored. The dish was created by cooks from South Asia living in Great Britain and is popular in restaurants around the world.

The sauce usually includes tomatoes, cream, coconut cream, and a masala spice mix. The sauce and chicken pieces may be colored orange using foodstuffs such as turmeric, paprika, tomato purée, or food dye. Tikka translates to "roasted", and Massala is "a mix of spices".

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Moussaka is an eggplant or potato-based dish, often including ground meat, which is common in the Balkans and the Middle East, with many local and regional variations.

Many versions have a top layer made of custard or béchamel sauce.

In Greece, the dish is layered and typically served hot. There’s a vegan version that replaces meat with mushrooms or a mix of sautéed onions and rice. And, in Turkey, moussaka consists of thinly sliced and fried eggplant served in a tomato-based meat sauce, warm or at room temperature. The word moussaka itself translates to "cold, or dipped in liquid".

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Ceviche is a Peruvian dish consisting of fish or shellfish marinated in citrus and seasonings. The fish is usually cured in lemon or sour lime juice, marinated together with sliced or chopped onion, and served with chopped cilantro. The dressing also includes some local varieties of chili pepper or chili, replaced by mustard in some locations in Central America.

In Peru, it is served with garnishes of boiled root vegetables such as sweet potatoes, cassava, or, very rarely, potatoes, and grains or seeds such as corn, legumes such as zarandaja, fried plantain, seaweed, and lettuce.

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A colorful array of small Chinese dishes traditionally consumed for brunch, Dim Sum is commonly associated with Cantonese cuisine. In the 10th century, travelers frequented Cantonese teahouses for small-portion meals with tea. Cantonese dim sum was originally based on local foods. As dim sum continued to develop, chefs introduced influences and traditions from other regions of China.

Dim Sum has a very broad range of flavors, textures, cooking styles, and ingredients and can be classified into regular items, seasonal offerings, weekly specials, banquet dishes, holiday dishes, house signature dishes, and travel-friendly items, as well as breakfast or lunch foods and late-night snacks. The term Dim Sum translates to "touch the heart."

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Doner kebab is a dish of Turkish origin made of seasoned meat stacked in the shape of an inverted cone, turned slowly on the rotisserie, next to a vertical cooking element. The operator uses a knife to slice thin shavings from the outer layer of the meat as it cooks.

The sliced meat of a doner kebab may be served on a plate with various accompaniments, stuffed into bread as a sandwich, or wrapped in a thin flatbread such as filo. Doner kebab has become popular around the world as a fast food dish sold by kebab shops, and is often called simply a "kebab." The term, donner kebab itself, translates to "roasted lamb."

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An exotic dish that has become famous all over the world, Pad Thai is a rice noodle dish fried in a wok and commonly served as a street food. As Thailand's national dish, it is typically made with rice noodles, shrimp, peanuts, scrambled eggs, and bean sprouts.

Many of the ingredients on a Pad Thai dish are provided on the side as condiments, such as red chili pepper, lime wedges, roasted peanuts, bean sprouts, garlic chives, and other miscellaneous fresh vegetables. The term Pad translates to "fried".

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Wiener schnitzel is made of a thin, breaded, pan-fried veal cutlet served without sauce.

It is one of the best-known specialties of Viennese cuisine and one of the national dishes of Austria.

This dish is prepared from veal slices, butterfly cut, lightly pounded flat, slightly salted, and rolled in flour, whipped eggs, and bread crumbs. Finally, the Schnitzel is fried until it is golden yellow. The term Wiener schnitzel translates, literally to "small, breaded, veal cutlet."