In the US we actually call it the English system. It's an even older version of the British imperial system. While they're not useful for critical measurements, a headache to compute and difficult for those unfamiliar to get a hold of, English units so have more personality and history associated with them. It would be a shame to see it disappear entirely.

The names involved connect measurements to life (and often history). A foot's about the size of your foot and a yard is one pace. A cup is about what fits in a cup and a pint is a beer glass. We have a spoon for tea, a table spoon, or just a pinch. Most were about facts of agrarian life, and were intended just to give the listeners a commonly understood idea and reference point for the measurement, rather than a scientific standard.

Some of the less common ones are surprisingly still in standard use. Horses are often measured in "hands" (there are also "palms" - an inch smaller since you're not using your thumb, as well as "digits", "fingers", "nails" and "spans"), while some commodities in "bushels". Of course, oil and spirits are still measured in "barrels".

Most of the most interesting ones are never used any more, such as a "knight's fee", a "mouthful", a "hogshead", a "barleycorn", or a "Ramsden's Chain". Next time someone tells you it's ten meters away, respond "Ah, you mean one Gunter's chain. Why didn't you just say so?" You're helping history live on! (and es, possibly losing a friend...)

Even in the US we use metric for most important measurements, and only use the English units for cooking, travel and personal uses. Pretty much every other country has been forced to standardize even those uses. People can of course use the metric system, but once you're used to it the English system isn't difficult, and if one gives it some thought, it's pretty interesting.