Units of measurement, common terms in New York and more...

Some terms are specific to New York and only known to residents of the Big Apple, while others are good to know if you want to ask for directions, for example. Units of measurement are also different than in Europe. Here is a list that will help you find your way around New York, but also throughout the USA, more quickly and easily.

The Americans use the old "Imperial" and not the meter system, as well as Fahrenheit and not Celsius, a legacy of the British Empire. Here are the main units of measurement and the conversion. If you want to make it easy for yourself, you can convert everything here .

Units of length

• 1 mile equals 1.6 kilometers
• 1 inch is approximately 25 millimeters or 2.54 centimeters
• 3-foot is almost a meter, more precisely 1 foot is 30.48 cm

Weight units

• 1 kilogram is 2 pounds
• 1 pound is 454 grams

Temperature units

• 0 degrees Celsius is 32 degrees Fahrenheit
• 24 degrees Celsius is 75 degrees Fahrenheit
• To convert Celcius (C) to Fahrenheit, use the following formula (C * 1.8) + 32

liquid units

• 1 gallon is 3.78 liters
• 1 cup is 0.23 liters

Americans use terms like "a block" that mean nothing to us Europeans when we travel to the country for the first time. Here are a few of them that will make your life in New York and also in the USA easier.

• a block - a block in NYC specifically the distance from one street to the next, e.g. from 42nd Street to 43rd Street or from 5th to 6th Avenue.
• a cab - that's what New Yorkers call the taxi
• uptown - everything that is north of the viewpoint or everything above 59th Street
• downtown - everything south of the viewpoint or everything below 14th Street
• midtown - everything between 14th and 59th Street
• West Side - the Hudson side of the city
• East Side - East River side of the city
• Five boroughs - 5 boroughs, The Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Staten Island
• A cop - a police officer
• Train aka Subway - subway
• Doorman - concieger or admission controller
• Boucer - doorman
• A smoke - a cigarette