Because that is how we're brought up. It's not like the "common" American can just choose in elementary school how they learn.

wow!!! no offense, really but your English is really bad. Speaking as a common American I feel the need to run for a dictionary and perhaps a Motrin..

It was offered in the 70's and we didn't want it. Call us independent or nonconformist but our system works for us. Well, me anyway.

In case you haven't noticed, "common Americans" have a mind of our own. We rarely follow the rest of the world. When we find a system that works, we stay with that system until we find that it no longer works. But, we will never change to the metric system just because you use it. It's an American thing, you wouldn't understand. So, you and the rest of the world go blindly follow each other round in circles. And, don't worry about the common Americans, there is absolutely nothing "common" about us.

Why did the rest of the world not stay with the standard form of measurement when it works just fine? 1 inch is about the distance from the tip of your thumb to the first knuckle. 1 yard is approximately the distance from the tip of your nose to the tip of your outstretched finger. Do that with the metric system.

The US, like England, uses a mix of metric and other. In some fields, the metric system has been used in the United States since the early 1800s. The use of metric units in lieu of or in addition to United States customary units has been gradually increasing for many years, but much of the public momentum has been lost since the 1980s, except in schools, science, and manufacturing. While the rest of the world has generally converted, the U.S. has, because of its size, been able to hold back, and there has been little political will to continue conversion. (from Wikipedia) Practically, conversion is expensive and many people and businesses simply don't want that expense. Plus, I know that I, speaking as a common American, don't particularly feel the need to follow the rest of the herd.

We Americans are divided on the S.I. We use it in industry, such as manufacturing and engineering, and in research (science). The only place the S.I. hasn't been fully adopted is in our public schools. Many Americans are terrified of following the lead of other nations, esp. the Europeans and the Asians, no matter how much sense it would make.. http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/index.html

Because the "un-common" Americans won't let us!

I hope you're not trying to sound sophisticated...

The English system is superior to the metric system. It is based on cutting in half or doubling. That is how nature works. Nature does not multiply by ten. The most important criteria for a unit of measurement is that it be a convenient and useful quantity of whatever it is you want to measure. A pound of flour makes a loaf of bread. An ounce is a convenient quantity of tobacco or spices. A pint is a nice quantity of beer. A yard is a useful quantity of cloth and is easy to measure by stretching the fabric an arms length from your nose. By an amazing coincidence 1/10,000,000 of the quadricircumference of the earth through Paris is almost exactly the convenient yard. The liter is almost exactly a quart. The kilogram is close to two pounds. At first no one changed their scales or measuring devices. They called a yard a meter. They called a quart a liter. They called a pound a half kilo. So how tall are you in the metric system? Everyone is one meter and a bunch of centimeters. In the English system short people are less than 5 feet. Most people are 5 feet and some inches, tall people are over 6 feet. I could go on but you get the idea.

There are plenty of common people in the rest of the world who still use it too.

You mean as apposed to the uncommon Americans?

You make us sound so mediocre. We don't use the metric system because it didn't take! We like our system. Do we have to be like the rest of the world? Is that better? And just so you know, we drive on the right side of the road, and the steering wheels in our cars are on the left.

cuz that how we roll

Because much of the rest of the world uses the French system doesn't mean everyone has to. In Canada, we've had the metric system dumped on us for over 30 years. But ask anyone their height or weight and you will get the answer in standard measure. What did the newborn weigh? Standard. Hamburger is on sale! How much? Standard. How much grain did you produce? Bushels/acre, standard. Trust me. My wife would rather measure weight loss in pounds. The only advantage of the meter is how close it is to a yard. Thank God for the foot which is at least a good measure. If you have only one measure of a type (weight, distance, volume) you have to chop it into decis, decas, kilos. In standard you can use the appropriate measure be it inches feet or miles.

So, when you are shopping for a car and you want to know how powerful the engine is, what do you use for a unit of measurement in the metric system? I'm looking for something with a little more pickup. Say, oh, 2E+12 ergs, somewhere in that range.

1. We don't like it. 2. Who cares what "the rest of the world" does? The US economy is still larger than the rest of the G8 plus China combined. 3. Most of the common people of East and South Asia use their own traditional units, like li, ri and baht. 4. The Metric System was the invention of French terrorists, and it only "caught on" in the rest of Europe (all but the UK, Russia, and the Ottoman territories) when Napoleon forced it down their throats. 5. The UK and Greece only adopted it (half-heartedly and by half-measures) when membership in the Common Market required it. 6. There's no need, no net advantage, and a hell of a high cost that makes conversion prohibitive. 7. And most importantly, 'the common American attitude': "We're bigger and better than everybody else, and they should do it our way!"

I would like to plug in my razor. Is that socket 1.92252E-10 ergs or 3.84504E-10 ergs?

Why mess with a good thing?? If it ain't broke don't fix it!!! WE didn't need the the metric system!!

You are coming along nicely as a Nation.

"Why do the common Americans still not use the metric system, while the rest of the world does?" - The rest of the world does not use metric some of us still use imperial..however this does not make users of imperial commoners!!!!