The recipe writers of the world have entered into a conspiracy to make cooking with butter way more complex than it should be. In one recipe they ask for a half-cup of butter. In the next, they ask for 8 tablespoons. Then they turn around and demand one stick of butter. And the whole time, they're asking for the same thing!

In this country, butter is mostly packaged in 1-pound boxes, with four individually wrapped quarters or sticks. Each pound is two cups of butter. Each quarter-pound stick is 8 tablespoons or a half a cup. Each tablespoon is 1/2 ounce. (So to answer your question, a half pound of butter is one cup.) To thwart the wicked aims of those recipe writers once and for all, we present the following fool-proof

Butter Measurement Translation Chart to Defeat Nefarious Recipe Writers*

Volume Sticks Weight: US & British Weight: Metric 1 Tbsp 1/8 1/2 oz 14 g 2 Tbsp 1/4 1 oz 25 g 3 Tbsp 3/8 1-1/2 oz 42 g 1/4 cup 1/2 2 oz 57 g 5 Tbsp 5/8 2-1/2 oz 72 g 6 Tbsp 3/4 3 oz 85 g 7 Tbsp 7/8 3/1/2 oz 98 g 1/2 cup 1 1/4 pound 113 g 9 Tbsp 1-1/8 4-1/2 oz 126 g 10 Tbsp 1-1/4 5 oz 142 g 11 Tbsp 1-3/8 5-1/2 oz 155 g 3/4 cup 1-1/2 6 oz 170 g 13 Tbsp 1-5/8 6-1/2 oz 184 g 14 Tbsp 1-3/4 7 oz 198 g 15 Tbsp 1-7/8 7-1/2 oz 212 g 1 cup 2 1/2 pound 227 g 17 Tbsp 2-1/8 8-1/2 oz 241 g 18 Tbsp 2-1/4 9 oz 255 g 19 Tbsp 2-3/8 9-1/2 oz 270 g 1-1/4 cups 2-1/2 10 oz 284 g 21 Tbsp 2-5/8 10-1/2 oz 298 g 22 Tbsp 2-3/4 11 oz 312 g 23 Tbsp 2-7/8 11-1/2 oz 327 g 1-1/2 cups 3 3/4 pound 341 g 25 Tbsp 3-1/8 12-1/2 oz 355 g 26 Tbsp 3-1/4 13 oz 370 g 27 Tbsp 3-3/8 13-1/2 oz 384 g 1-3/4 cups 3-1/2 14 oz 398 g 29 Tbsp 3-5/8 14-1/2 oz 412 g 30 Tbsp 3-3/4 15 oz 427 g 31 Tbsp 3-7/8 15-1/2 oz 441 g 2 cups 4 1 pound 454 g

*This also works for margarine that comes in 1-pound boxes.