Wanna Speak "Grocery?"

Wanna Speak “Grocery?”

  I work part-time on weekends as a stock clerk in a large, regional chain grocery store. When I first started a few years ago, I kept on having to ask my manager what on earth he was talking about. For instance, he'd say something like, “Shelf out the pickles 3-way and kill the pasta.” I'd then say something clever, like, “Huh?”

He was very, very patient with me, and slowly I learned to speak “grocery.”

Then, one day recently I wondered: Hey—has anyone ever collected all these special grocery words and phrases? I looked around, but couldn't find anything else on the Internet, so I decided to start my own list. And boy, oh, boy, it grew!

Every time I went to work I'd put a scrap of paper in my pocket, and whenever I heard or saw something new that was specifically “grocery,” I'd quickly jot it down. I thought I'd be done in a month, at most.

A year later, I'm still at it!

The specific area I work in is called “Non-Perishables,” meaning mostly cans, boxes, bottles, jars, and cellophane packages. However, I've tried to also include things from other departments such as Produce and Customer Service whenever I come across them.

Obviously, I'm having a lot of fun. Part of the fun is collecting the information. Another part of the fun is trying to present it so it's interesting, convenient and easy to use.

Hope you like it!