View Full Version : Word-usage question: "Supermarket", or "grocery store"? That is the question...
Most often I'll say, "grocery shopping", but I love "supermarket"! Which, by the way, I almost never (if ever) use.
Supermarket, sounds so dressed-up! Reminds me of the 60's/70's, when men wore dress hats, car-coats, and dress shoes, and women wore dresses, skirts, and slacks.
P.S. Thanks to Miss Cellane, for this thread topic! :)
Yes, I know... the old-fashioned, vintage side of Mrs-M, is coming out again! LOL!
Grocery store usually, or sometimes "I'm going food shopping" but rarely do I say I'm going to the supermarket.
goldensmom
12-8-12, 11:20am
I go 'grocery shopping' and I never say grocery store or supermarket but will say the name of the store so my husband will know where I am. Now that I think about it, I always say the name of the store/place I am going to unless there is only one in town such as 'the elevator, the bakery, the hospital, the funeral home, etc.'. By the way, 'going to town' refers to the city of our address, anywhere else is called by name.
Hi everybody!
Looks like "grocery shopping"/"grocery store", are winning so far, but I'm going to start trying to use "supermarket".
Me, too, Goldensmom, I will often say (use) the name/place as well.
Blackdog Lin
12-8-12, 11:46am
Goin' to the grocery store.
mtnlaurel
12-8-12, 12:15pm
"I've got to go to The Grocery" "I'll get it at The Grocery"
And if you are getting Adult Entertainment Juice, you get it from 'The Package Store'
Originally posted by Mtnlaurel.
And if you are getting Adult Entertainment Juice, you get it from 'The Package Store'ROTFLMAO! Never heard it called that before. :)
IshbelRobertson
12-8-12, 1:09pm
Always known as supermarkets here. But colloquially we say 'going for the messages'. But don't ask me why!
We get our food at a food co-op, so we use co-op. When I lived in Mexico, I loved the radio & TV ads that said SUPERMERCADO!!!! with lots of reverb in the background.
That's it, Ishbel, I give up trying to figure out UK terms/saying. :)
Redfox. I was thinking of the television game show that used to air, "Supermarket Sweep", or something like that, where shoppers would push a cart down the isles searching for specific things they were given to find. Remember it?
We always use the name of the store, whether it's groceries, a big-box store, a hardware/garden store, drug store, etc.
Slick, Kestrel! Don't know why trivial things like this interest me, but they just do! Maybe because they're fun! :)
We always use the name of the store, whether it's groceries, a big-box store, a hardware/garden store, drug store, etc.
Same here.
ApatheticNoMore
12-8-12, 1:55pm
I just say "I'm going to the store" (that pretty much means grocery shopping, otherwise I'd specify), or "I'm going to go buy some food" or "I'm going to buy groceries".
ApatheticNoMore. Laughing once again, because I'm thinking, had I used the term "supermarket", one of the kidlets would for surely have asked, "what's that mom". LOL!!!
Goin' to the grocery or goin' to the store. (Auto correct insist on groin instead of goin'...)
I usually say I'm going to the market. I'm used to the day of small family owned grocerers. The last one in my area closed seven years ago and I miss it terribly. The owner knew his customers and what they liked, he'd say things like " Mrs. S we got some lovely avacados in yesterday" etc... It was great. Now all that his left are these big chains .
I use grocery store for a big store but the small city store I call a supermarket but it would be funny to say "I'm going supermarket shopping!!"
I say "grocery store."
I also say "bathroom," never "restroom."
Restroom is for a bathroom not at home. At least for me. I say "grocery store" as in I'm going to the Grocery Story store. However if I'm referring to a Grocery store, as in: They had a new flavor of ice cream at the Supermarket, I may say that. Then it's a toss up between grocery story and supermarket.
OK, generically, just talking about the type of store, I say "grocery store" rather than "supermarket". But as I said, I specify which store by name: Winco, Fred Meyer, Albertsons, the Co-op, Whole Foods, etc. To be specific. JCPenney and Macy's, not "department store" or whatever it is they're called nowadays. Sometimes DH and I go to The Mall, but not very often, because it's a darn chore.
I hate physical shopping. Back in the olden days I shopped almost exclusively, except for groceries, by catalog, and often still do the same. Love getting LLBean catalogs etc. and do order from them. Online (Amazon etc.) is almost the same, but not quite -- I do love a catalog I can hold in my hands and flip through the pages.
I do like to go to thrift shops, tho.
Tiam: I think the way you use the word "bathroom" is how most people do. It's just one of my pet peeves. I don't think the word "bathroom" is crude and in need of a softer word. I'm not going in there to "rest" even if it isn't at home. At the very least, I'm going in there to bathe my hands. Probably I should say "toilet."
rosarugosa
12-9-12, 7:51am
Groceries > Grocery Store
Booze > Packy (abbreviated form of Package Store). Always wondered if others say Packy or that's a regional New England thing.
goldensmom
12-9-12, 7:51am
Restroom/bathroom....at the public places I frequent, the sign on the door says 'restroom' therefore that is what I call it but at home we have no sign so we call that room the bathroom because that is where the bathtub is located. In some countries the sign says 'toilet' which is in fact what the room contains and it is accurately descriptive. I find 'toilet' crude but that's my upbringing and not a social norm.
Groceries > Grocery Store
Booze > Packy (abbreviated form of Package Store). Always wondered if others say Packy or that's a regional New England thing.
Not so much a New England thing. I live in NH and we call it the liquer store. I only called it the packy when I lived in MA.
It was package store when I grew up in CT. Also packy.
Miss Cellane
12-9-12, 11:12am
Most often I'll say, "grocery shopping", but I love "supermarket"! Which, by the way, I almost never (if ever) use.
Supermarket, sounds so dressed-up! Reminds me of the 60's/70's, when men wore dress hats, car-coats, and dress shoes, and women wore dresses, skirts, and slacks.
P.S. Thanks to Miss Cellane, for this thread topic! :)
What? Wait! Me? I caused this??? :0!
Looks wildly around on the interwebs.
Oh, was it the "buying in doubles" thread?
Okay, I have to admit I never know when to use "supermarket" or "grocery store."
I blame this on a military childhood where food was bought at the "commissary." (Alcohol was purchased at the "Class 6" store.)
I learned pretty quickly that non-military children did not say "commissary." So I'd switch to using grocery store with them, because that is what my mother would say when referring to an off-base store where you bought food. That got me teased only half the time.
Moving around a lot, I developed a keen ear for the different word people used, mostly because I'd get teased by other kids for using the "wrong" word. Some places people say supermarket. Some places they say grocery store. Some places they use the name of the store.
Mostly, I've opted out. I just say I'm going food shopping. Or to a specific store--DeMoulas', Hannafords, Shaw's or Star Market.
Technically, I think supermarket is the better term for the giant stores with 16 options for everything, plus lawn chairs, motor oil, flashlights, toys, etc. The kind of store where most of the aisle have food, but there are several in the middle with greeting cards and random stuff that clearly isn't food. A grocery store, to me, carries the idea that it mostly sells food. But in reality, I use the terms pretty interchangeably.
Grocery store, although I'm more likely to say the name of the store or to say, "I'm going grocery shopping."
Liquor store, package store, or packy -- depends on who I'm talking to since package store or packy is something I would only say in MA or to friends from New England who will actually know what I'm talking about.
My favorite is my friends from the Philly area who call the grocery store the "food store." It's quite the apt descriptor, but I find it funny.
I say several things.....
"I am going to the Grocery Store"
"I am going to the store"
"I am going to (insert name of town) Walmart"
"I am going shopping"
But they all mean I am going to Walmart Supercenter to buy groceries as they have the best produce around here. I often insert the name of the town before Walmart to distinguish whether I am going to the closest but smaller WM Supercenter 30 miles away or one of the bigger Walmart Supercenters in several towns 60 miles away.
rodeosweetheart
12-9-12, 3:57pm
I say, "going to the grocery" but then, my granddad was a grocer, with a real old fashioned grocery store.
Mrs. M, when I was little, we used to go to the A & P, and the ladies wore gloves.
cindycindy
12-9-12, 4:03pm
I usually say "going food shopping" as I make several stops at ShopRite, produce store & Aldi's. Never say supermarket.
Agree that it sounds 60's. I remember as a kid in the 60's that people used to smoke cigarettes while going food shopping in the supermaket. Yuck.
So unimaginable now.
LOL, Florence! You are such a card, and I love it! :)
Artist. I, so miss the old days of personalized service, and when everyone knew everyone. Such a feeling of closeness connected with.
Laser_Cat. Re: "supermarket shopping"... what a great way to throw someone off as to where exactly you might be in your shopping travels!
Bunnys. I say "bathroom" as well, "washroom", when in a more formal setting. To be perfectly honest, I don't like the term "bathroom" or "toilet". Both IMO need a freshening, as in a softer version.
Tiam. Yeah, "restroom", has always somewhat thrown me off, too.
Kestrel. Yes, I remember when EVERYONE shopped by catalogue when I was a kid! Sears, was the place!
Rosarugosa. Here, we use the term, "liquor store", or "beer store". Never heard it called a "packy" before. LOL!
Goldensmom. I hear you on the "toilet" thing, being crude. I feel/think the same. I tend to use "potty", which of course never fails to get a rise out of one of the kids, older ones included.
Herbgeek. I'm beginning to think I'd be as lost in the States, as I would in the UK, re: terms/sayings. :)
LOL, Miss Cellane!!! Yes indeed it was the "buying in doubles" thread. :) "Supermarket" to me, is an event, an occasion, an all-out serious shopping day! LOL! I just love the saying!!! I'm picturing women dressed in their finest, strolling down the isles wearing white gloves, fancy hats, and high-heeled shoes!
Cdttmm. I like "food store", too! Definitely conforms to simplicity, doesn't it! :) Nothing complicated about it all all.
Mnmlz. "Superstore"! Yes, and yet one more variation I never would have though about had you not mentioned it.
Rodeosweetheart. How unique about the ladies wearing gloves. Now that's old-fashioned!
CindyCindy. I remember the days of when people smoked (freely) everywhere, too! Crushed cigarette butts on floors was a common sight, and although I never thought anything of it at the time (too young/naive), I imagine brand new clothing in stores took on the odour of cigarette smoke. Eewww... I used to be a smoker and just thinking about it grosses me out!
IshbelRobertson
12-9-12, 5:34pm
The U word in the UK is lavatory, the non-U term is toilet. In Scotland, it is often referred to 'the lavvy'
(Sorry if that offends some on here!)
Square Peg
12-9-12, 8:14pm
I am pretty sure package store (packy) is only a southern New England thing. I have never heard it anywhere else. I think my husband told me it was actually written into CT law, that liquor could only be sold at a package store? He might have been pulling my leg though.
In CT, is it stilll only sold until 8pm?
I say store or grocery store. I like market better than supermarket. I feel better about the word restroom, but I think I often say bathroom. I did refer to it as the ladies' the other day though.
The term "lavatory" is pleasing, as is "powder room". There's something cleaner and fresher about the two.
Square Peg. I "market". Sounds like something people might typically do on a Saturday/Sunday.
Miss Cellane
12-9-12, 9:09pm
I am pretty sure package store (packy) is only a southern New England thing. I have never heard it anywhere else. I think my husband told me it was actually written into CT law, that liquor could only be sold at a package store? He might have been pulling my leg though.
In CT, is it stilll only sold until 8pm?
I say store or grocery store. I like market better than supermarket. I feel better about the word restroom, but I think I often say bathroom. I did refer to it as the ladies' the other day though.
In Connecticut, yes, the liquor stores close at 8. Supermarkets can carry beer, but they can't sell it after 8 pm. They have to put plastic curtains over the liquor after hours. And on Sundays, because no alcohol can be sold in Connecticut on Sundays.
jennipurrr
12-9-12, 9:20pm
Grocery Store here.
Liquor here is only sold in state owned liquor stores and at package stores, but the package stores have to buy it from the state owned store, so its always much more expensive there. Most people (self included) say "ABC store" to refer to the liquor store since that is the state owned store name. Apparently its also the name of a tourist/junky store in Hawaii, but we're far enough from Hawaii here in the deep south to avoid any confusion.
Gardenarian
12-10-12, 2:39pm
" The Market", when I'm going to the small grocery store/butcher a few blocks away. I think that's what everyone in town calls it. Not to be confused with the "Farmer's Market" which is on Thursdays.
If I'm going to Trader Joe's or Rainbow (the health food store) I call them just that.
Wildflower
12-10-12, 10:54pm
Supermarket is a word often used here, but most usually say "goin' to the grocery store", including me. :)
Miss Cellane and Jennipurrr. Aside from actual liquor stores/package stores, is liquor still available for purchase on Sundays, in regular convenience stores?
Gardenarian. I love "market"! Sounds exactly like what Jessica Fletcher (Murder She Wrote) would use. :)
Wildflower. If I remember right, my own parents used to say, "shopping", which, in our house, meant groceries, so that's what I tend to still use.
Miss Cellane
12-12-12, 7:45am
Miss Cellane and Jennipurrr. Aside from actual liquor stores/package stores, is liquor still available for purchase on Sundays, in regular convenience stores?
Gardenarian. I love "market"! Sounds exactly like what Jessica Fletcher (Murder She Wrote) would use. :)
Wildflower. If I remember right, my own parents used to say, "shopping", which, in our house, meant groceries, so that's what I tend to still use.
Mrs. M, I just found out that Connecticut changed the liquor laws. As of May of this year, they now allow liquor to be sold on Sundays at liquor stores. Grocery stores can sell beer on Sundays, as well. Not a lot of convenience stores sell beer, but if they do, they can now sell it on Sunday, and three Monday holidays which they used to have to close for.
A lot of liquor stores in CT are small, family-owned businesses, and the owners weren't all happy about the change, because now they have to be open 7 days a week.
Gardenarian
12-12-12, 4:23pm
I used to live in Massachusetts and I think those old blue laws were a good thing. I hated it when stores began to open on Sundays (in the 80s I think?)
We always used "package store" where I lived outside of Boston. "It's Saturday night so we better make a packy run!"
Reminds me of the 60's/70's, when men wore dress hats, car-coats, and dress shoes, and women wore dresses, skirts, and slacks.
Ha Ha - I think you're thinking of the 1860's and 70's because, as a kid in the late 1960's and early 70's, all I remember is long hair covered in flowers, beaded vests and paisley shirts, torn and patched bellbottoms, fringed leather purses, and dirty bare feet - and that was just the men :-)!!!
I actually say both - super market and grocery store - and they are interchangible to me. But grocery store seems more like a quaint and small corner market where super market seems big and impersonal. And liquer stores are basicly names for the corner market or convience store or mini mart like a 7-11. As in "I'm going top the liquer store to buy some Ho-Ho's and cat food". You can buy booze in every type of store here in Calif.
Thanks for the insight, Miss Cellane. It's interesting, the fact that a lot of liquor stores in the States, are family-owned, because here in Canada, all liquor stores are government controlled/owned, and yes, there's a lot to be said Re:, open 7 days a week.
Gardenarian. I, too, miss the days of Sundays, being a day of rest. The 80's sounds about right Re:.
LMAO, Spartana! Yes, I remember the likes of, too, but women were still women, and dressed accordingly. Parks, were the place (in our area) where beaded/fringed-vests, paisley shirts, jean-cutoffs, bellbottoms, and flowers on VW vans, congregated and could be found. Playing their guitars, smoking cigarettes, and their kids running freely and diaperless.
I miss those days... the carefree style of it, where people did what they did, and few worried or concerned themselves over the thought of what others might think, and really, everyone left each other alone.
LMAO, Spartana! Yes, I remember the likes of, too, but women were still women, and dressed accordingly. Parks, were the place (in our area) where beaded/fringed-vests, paisley shirts, jean-cutoffs, bellbottoms, and flowers on VW vans, congregated and could be found. Playing their guitars, smoking cigarettes, and their kids running freely and diaperless.
I miss those days... the carefree style of it, where people did what they did, and few worried or concerned themselves over the thought of what others might think, and really, everyone left each other alone.
Talking about Mad magazine on another thread and I found this - works here too :-)! I was too young in the late 60's to remember fashion trends but as a teen in the early 70's I know all us girls wore cut off jean (Daisy-Dukes - Levis of course) hip huggers or bellbottoms with frayed bottoms, wide leather belts (often branded, studded, and tattered) bohemian type shirts or crop tops (bra-less of course), long lose hair, no make up and sandels (like the other photo below). It was a time between the hippie era of the 60's and the disco era of the late 70's early 80's and everyone was very casual - even the older ladies (over 30 or 40) wore pant suits for the most part - generally brightly colored polyester pantsuits in day glo colors - UGH!.
http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1075&d=1355423303http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1076&d=1355424398
ROTFLMAO, Spartana!!! Those jeans are totally cool! So groovy! Just the way I remember them.
Yes, and pantsuits! Headband/scarfs, too! Hoop-earrings, too... the bigger- the better!
Speaking of disco, gosh do I miss those days! Probably the best music EVER!
Well I'm not too much for disco music ...well not that I'd admit it out loud as it may ruin my heavy metal rocker chick image :-)!
OK here another thing that hasn't ben mentioned - not really clothes but it is fashion (sort of)...tattos. Anyone think tattos - or alot of them - are a fashion faux pas? I like them on others (and have a couple small discreet ones myself) and don't think of them as a fauz pas, but I do think that as a permanent thng I wouldn't want them as a fashion statement. They would get old (both figuretively and literally) after awhile.
Your image hasn't been tarnished in any way as a result of you admitting your love of heavy metal over disco, Spartana. :)
Re: tattoos, I don't like them, largely because of their permanency.
ROTFLMAO, Spartana!!! Those jeans are totally cool! So groovy! Just the way I remember them.
Yes, and pantsuits! Headband/scarfs, too! Hoop-earrings, too... the bigger- the better!
Speaking of disco, gosh do I miss those days! Probably the best music EVER!
Disco!? Never, Ever!
I've never heard of a packy store. I call it the alcoholic store.:~)
Can we have a moment of silence, in reverence of the recently-deceased owner of Trader Joe's? He was the son of the founder of the Aldi Grocery chain chain, and very, very wealthy. But I guess he was only in his 50's. So sorry. He didn't need to work (except at counting his money) but served society anyway, by finding a need for chocolate-covered espresso beans, and meeting it! In answer to the OP's question; I think "supermarket" implies that they have an expanded product line beyond groceries, such as a Deli, a service counter that cashes checks and sells postage; beauty supplies and cosmetics; maybe a pharmacy. Just my 2 cents. But then, it may be just the variant, regional usage, like the difference between Davenport and sofa, bucket or pail; and possum or opossum.
cattledog
12-14-12, 10:48am
I call it a grocery store. I've never heard of a packy store. I love it though.
Originally posted by Packy.
I think "supermarket" implies that they have an expanded product line beyond groceries, such as a Deli, a service counter that cashes checks and sells postage; beauty supplies and cosmetics; maybe a pharmacy. Just my 2 cents. But then, it may be just the variant, regional usage, like the difference between Davenport and sofa, bucket or pail; and possum or opossum.Interesting insight.
Keep 'em coming everybody!
Going back to my disco now! http://emoticoner.com/files/emoticons/smileys/disco-smiley.gif?1292867582
Your image hasn't been tarnished in any way as a result of you admitting your love of heavy metal over disco, Spartana. :)
Re: tattoos, I don't like them, largely because of their permanency.
Well I won't actually admit it in writing but I do occasionally have strains of Casey and the Sunshine Band wafting thru my head (amd now so do all of you - "do a little dance, make a little lov, get down tonight, get down tonight"). Urrr.ggghhhh.. my inner Metallica and Guns and Roses Diva is silently screaming :-)!
Also realized I was on the wrong thread for the Faux Pas fashions. Oops! I'll blame it on listening to Disco Duck and Disco Inferno once...really just once... really... "Burn Baby burn! Disco Inferno!" " Disco, Disco, Disco Duck. You've got to be...a Disco Duck". OK I'll stop it :-)! In truth I like all kinds of music but am more of a rock, blues, folk and rockabilly country person then pop or dance music a;lthough some hip hop is OK. Love your emoticon Mrs. M. !
LOL, Spartana! You are such good colour! :)
LOL, Spartana! You are such good colour! :)
Thanks!! You too!! I like to think of mny self as "A hyper-intelligent shade of the colour blue" - all you "Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy" fans will know what I'm talking about - the rest of you unfroody dudes, who have NO IDEA where your towel is, will have to google it ;-)!
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