06 October 2007

Tesco Talk

I just finished my Saturday shift at Tesco (ugghhh!) and I feel up for a little fun. Here's the deal...I'm going to list some items here in England that people might ask for at the store. (I'm sure I've been asked each of these at least once!) Your job is to either define them or tell me which aisle or section you would find it. (You can do that in the comment section). If you're a regular reader you might have an advantage. After a few days, I'll choose a winner and maybe you'll receive an English goody in the 'post'. Oh, you're not allowed to 'play' if you live in England!

  1. crisps
  2. cider
  3. washing up liquid
  4. swede
  5. kitchen roll
  6. cotton wool
  7. 'bickies' (this is a common slang term -- I'm really not sure how to spell it)
  8. plasters
  9. mushy peas
  10. fromage frais
  11. paracetamol
  12. 'tabs' (this is strictly a Northeast English term)
  13. dripping
  14. jelly
  15. bin liners

OK, that's probably enough! Good luck!

Here's the answers:

  1. potato chips
  2. type of beer
  3. dishsoap
  4. rutabaga or yellow turnip
  5. paper towels
  6. cotton balls
  7. 'biccies' is the slang for biscuits which are cookies
  8. band-aids
  9. mushy peas are found with all the other peas in the canned veggie section -- basically it's just mushed up peas (think peas in mashed potato form) that are often eaten with fish and chips or with savoury pies
  10. fromage frais is similar to yogurt (though not the same) and is found with the yogurts
  11. acetaminophen (Tylenol)
  12. cigarettes
  13. lard
  14. Jell-o
  15. trash bags

It looks like Mostly Coastal won...perhaps since she's been to visit. Hmmm...wonder if that's fair?

Thanks for playing!

11 comments:

Mostly Coastal said...

potato chips, ale, diswashing liquid, rutabagas, paper towels, absorbent towels, light bulbs,band-aids, peas, yogurt, acetemenophin, cigarettes, lard, jell-o, trash bags...

-C said...

potato chips, vinegar, dishwashing liquid, rutabagas, paper towels, cotton balls, pens, band-aids, pea soup, yogurt, aspirin, cigarettes, oil, vaseline, trash bags ... thanks to wiki.

Mostly Coastal said...

Swede -- also could be a tall, strapping, blonde, blue-eyed, handsome Scandanavian...but I digress...;)

Marc and Charity said...

I won't play since I know these, but I don't know the "tabs" you'll have to let me know.

Anonymous said...

"biccies" is the generally accepted spelling, I believe.

The pens your commenter is thinking of are "bics", though we would call them "biros". A Bic biro is a particular make.

Fromage frais isn't the same as yoghurt (though - to be fair - when talking to the children I call O's fromage frais "yoghurt"). And cider is definitely not the same as cider vinegar.

(Did you know I read your blog?)

- Julie

Anonymous said...

I knew a few but it looks like ~C or mostly coastal beat me. Plasters I know are bandaids...they are "plastics" in Dominica. I also know jelly is jello because of a $5 dvd Elliya has where everyone has a british accent. They keep talking about these planes delivering jelly and finally at the end they show jello.

Fun!!

Anonymous said...

1. crisps - potato chips
2. cider - liquor section
3. washing up liquid -hand soap
4. swede - household products
5. kitchen roll - paper towel
6. cotton wool - cotton ball
7. 'bickies' - pens
8. plasters - band aids
9. mushy peas - baby food
10. fromage frais - cottage cheese
11. paracetamol - medicine for headaches
12. 'tabs' - post it notes
13. dripping - lard
14. jelly - jell-o
15. bin liners - trash bags

Norm said...

Ditto to whomever got them all correct. OF course, I'm especially fond of rutabagas and peas, so I would have gotten that straight away. Not sure why anyone would think of Lard and Jell-O one right after the other. On second thought, I suppose I can. :)

Anonymous said...

Cider is *not* beer.

Cider is alcohol from apples - apparently the US calls it "hard cider". Normally, though not exclusively, sparkling. (Sometimes "pear cider" is used to describe alcohol from pears, but strictly speaking that's perry.)

Beer, according to wiki, is made by "the fermentation of sugars derived from starch-based material", which apples ain't.

Julie

Mostly Coastal said...

The correct answers came from simply listening to you over the past year -- I only had to guess at a couple of items I hadn't heard you mention...and my "guesses" were mostly incorrect...so I think "-c" might be the winner...

the blackwells said...

Since Tesco is having their Beer AND Cider Festival...I should have realized that cider isn't precisely beer. I did want my American readers to know that it isn't the same kid-friendly drink that I used to have every Autumn at Erie Apple Orchard in Michigan...here it's located next to the beer and is intended for those that are 18+ (the legal drinking age here).