I was reading the other day about someone going to the supermarket for groceries. I call it the grocery store. Others simply say market. What do you call it? Are there other terms? Have times changed or is supermarket a regional term?

"Supermarket" seems outdated now. Since most grocery stores are no longer little corner "mom & pop" places, or even large grocery-only places, it seems no longer descriptive, IMHO.

I prefer the weekly farmer's market. One may purchase FOOD at such locations.

Agree, Geoff. Haven't heard "supermarket" in ages. When I was a teen in the '60's, we may have called the first big store in our rural area "the supermarket." My grandmother, however, always said "I'm going to do the marketing." We knew her routine & which stores she'd go to.

Supermarket is still normal enough in England. Anything else we just say (at least where I come from) "the shpp" or "the shops".

quote:

Originally posted by Geoff:


I prefer the weekly farmer's market. One may purchase FOOD at such locations.

Also possible in England but ONLY if one is very wealthy indeed. At a farmers' market a week's food costs a month's salary.

quote:

Originally posted by BobHale:
Also possible in England but ONLY if one is very wealthy indeed. At a farmers' market a week's food costs a month's salary.

Yikes! Now wonder you live in China!

I say all kind of words for it. I think the reason for that is I have lived several different places. If I said to someone here that I want to go to the supermarket, they would know what I mean. The same is true if I said market or grocery store. When I lived in Fort Wayne, Indiana, if I said that I needed to go to the market, people thought perhaps I meant farmer's market. They did not call a grocery store, a market. I started to use the name of where I was going, such as Walmart, or here, I might say Martin's. A supermarket to me denotes a huge market or grocery store with often, other items besides food, such as clothing, appliances, etc.

We still have several smaller grocery stores or markets in town. The two that come to mind immediately have a deli section and some necessary items, such as bread. One makes their own rolls and bread.

As for Farmer's Markets, we have one downtown every Thursday from May till October. It is winding down now. I loved getting local fresh produce from there all summer. There are also home-cooked desserts, a woman who makes handmade soaps, salves, and cosmetics, and a woman who sells fresh bouquets of flowers from the flower farm she has.

I have a similar problem with the terms soft drinks, pop, tonic, and soda. It was called different names in different places and in different generations. Again, I come back to using the name of the actual item I want, instead of a generic term.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: sattva,

I love farmer's markets, but at least in my area, they are much like Bob describes in England - much more expensive, though much better quality too. I think a pint of raspberries is $5 or $6, while about $3 in the supermarket (I've decided supermarket sounds much better than grocery store, so I am changing).

Yes, agreed, Sattva about soft drinks. Even in one area they are called different things by different people. Maybe you are right that it's generational.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kalleh,

Wow, Kalleh, I only see $3/pt raspberries in the supermarket for 3 wks or so in high [local] season. But that's a good thing, too: my huge local NJ supermarkets' produce prices reflect off-the-farm prices, no different from those of our weekly farmers'-market vendors. We are a small "Garden State," so transportation farm-to-supermarket is quick, & farmers'-market produce only a day or two fresher. But... I grew up in Ithaca NY just a mile from the Cornell orchards, so I do get a yearning for just-picked apples & just-pressed cider. Luckily you can do that here too in the fall-- either at the farmers'-market, or by taking a 5-10-mi drive, week-ends, to local orchards. And the orchard stores have goodies like fresh-baked fruit pies & local raw honey!

Ah, yes. Our farmers markets' attract farmers from Michigan (Michigan cherries are the best!), central Illinois and Wisconsin (oh those cheeses!). Our next door neighbor raises bees, and, I agree, that fresh honey is great. Unfortunately his bees all flew away last year, but he is getting some more in the spring.