Once upon a time I thought that "the marketplace" pertained to people going shopping. Now it seems only to refer to people wearing suits that cost more than my house shuffling nonexistent "commodities" around and being paid insanely large amounts to do so. Would one of you financially savvy people explain just what this term means?

I've also noticed that any time a grocery store quits calling itself a grocery store and calls itself a "marketplace," prices go up. Is there a connection?

The only "marketplace" I hear about around here is the Affordable Care Act marketplaces.

Honestly, I don't hear the term related to grocery store at all. I call our grocery store - a grocery store. Is this a regional (Indianan) change, do you think?

I've never heard the term 'marketplace' used to describe a shop either. Over here, it's used to describe the area where a collection of stalls operates. There is also the metaphorical meaning, where groups of traders (individuals and/or corporate) get together to buy and sell commodities. This may of course now be virtual, such as over the internet or by phone.

Either way, it's a step up from when the marketplace was a slave auction.

When I look up marketplace in Onelook, a common definition is "An open area or square in a town where a public market or sale is set up." That's my connotation of a marketplace.

Now, a market is different. I have heard people say they were going to the market. And, of course, in the summer we have "farmer's markets" all over the place.

Here's one example: http://supermarketnews.com/ret...lace-branding-begins After "rebranding," their prices shot up. Fred Meyer, now the Weatern division of Ohio-based Kroger, has rebranded some of their stores and jacked up prices as well. A small sample, but it does seem to me that in the grocery business, "marketplace" = upscale market with high prices.

That is interesting, Geoff. I think the use of marketplace for grocery store may be an Indiana trend. Perhaps it will come to Chicago.