#ESL Podcast 231 – The Supermarket Checkout

##GLOSSARY

**cashier –** a store employee who takes the money for things that a customer buys

and provides a receipt

*The cashier said he couldn’t help me with the clothes I wanted to buy because

he works only in the shoe department.

**lane –** a narrow (small and long) area in a grocery store where shoppers stand in

a line to wait for a cashier to help them make their purchases

*I wanted to use the express lane at the grocery store, but in that lane, people

can pay only with cash and I needed to use a credit card.

**15 items or less –** a restriction at express (fast) checkout lanes at a grocery

store, meaning that only people buying 15 or fewer items may use that lane

*Mindy became very angry when she saw that the woman in front of her had at

least 20 items in her basket, even though the sign clearly said, *“15 items or less.”*

**coupon –** a small piece of paper usually cut from an advertisement or a

newspaper that gives a shopper a lower price on a particular item

*Brice found a coupon for $0.35 off his favorite brand of shampoo in the

magazine.

**belt –** a wide band of rubber (soft plastic) that moves along the counter at a

checkout lane to move groceries from the end where the shopper is taking items

from their cart to the other end where the cashier is checking prices

*Please don’t let your child play with the belt! His fingers might get caught

underneath it and I don’t want him to get hurt.

**cart –** a large basket with wheels and a handle that is pushed through a store by

a shopper, who fills it with the items that he or she wants to purchase

*Every time I go to the grocery store, I get a cart that has broken wheels!

**per pound –** for each pound (one pound is approximately 2.2 kilograms)

*In the early summer, strawberries are very inexpensive, but in the winter, they

can cost up to $5 per pound!

**price check –** an employee in a store asking or finding out the price of

something for a customer

*I thought the TV was on sale, but the cashier’s computer showed that it cost

more than $500, so I asked her to do a price check to make sure.

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**club card –** a membership card that gives shoppers lower prices on many items

*With a club card, my favorite ice cream is only $1.50 this week.

**to swipe –** to quickly move one’s card through an electronic machine that gets

information from the card about the cards’ owners and their accounts

*I swiped my credit card four times, but the machine couldn’t read it, so the

cashier had to type in the account number by hand.

**debit –** a type of card that deducts money directly from a person’s checking

account; to take money out of an account

*He tried paying for his purchase with his debit card, but the computer told the

cashier that he didn’t have enough money in his account.

**credit –** a type of card that connects to a credit card account and allows a person

to buy something now and pay for it later

*When I got my first credit card, my father warned me that if I don’t pay the entire

credit card bill every month, I’d have to pay a lot of interest.

**cash back –** money in cash (dollars and coins) that one receives at the end of a

debit-card transaction by adding that amount to the total amount of the purchase

*Going to the bank to get cash is inconvenient, so we usually ask for cash back

at the grocery store instead.

**Paper or plastic? –** a phrase used by grocery store cashiers or baggers to ask

shoppers if they would prefer to have their purchases placed in paper or plastic

bags

*When the cashier asked, *“Paper or plastic?”* Sharon pointed to the cloth bags

that she had brought from home and asked them to put her items in those

instead.

**tabloid –** a newspaper with scandalous (shocking) stories about unusual events

or famous people, usually which cannot or should not be believed

*Reading the tabloids is a waste of time. Why don’t you read about world news

instead?

**Do you need any help out? –** a phrase used by grocery store cashiers to ask

shoppers if they want someone to help them carry their purchases to their car

*The cashier asked me if I needed any help out, but I said *“no”* because I only

had one small bag of groceries.

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##COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. Why does the cashier ask Yong *“Paper or plastic?”*

a) He wants to know whether Yong wants a paper bag or a plastic bag.

b) He wants to know whether Yong will pay with cash or with a credit card.

c) He wants to know whether Yong wants a paper receipt or a plastic receipt.

2. How much money is deducted from Yong’s account?

a) $47.52 (the total price of the groceries).

b) $7.52 (the total price of the groceries minus a $40 gift).

c) $87.52 (the total price of the groceries plus $40 in cash).

##WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?

lane

The word *“lane,”* in this podcast, means a narrow (small and long) section in a

grocery store where shoppers form a line to wait for a cashier to help them make

their purchases: “The grocery store was busy yesterday evening and there were

at least five people waiting in each lane.” A *“lane”* can also be a small road,

usually in the countryside: *“He lives is the lane behind that big farm.”* On a

larger road, a *“lane”* is marked by white or yellow lines and is used to keep cars

in a straight line: “In the U.S., the slow lane is on the right and the passing lane

is on the left.” A *“lane”* is also a marked section in a swimming pool or on a

racetrack used to keep competitors out of each other’s way: “Which lane is your

brother running in?”

belt

In this podcast, the word *“belt”* means a wide band of rubber (soft plastic) that

moves in a circle over a table to carry items from one end of a table to another:

“The luggage belts at the airport were broken, so the poor employees had to

carry all the suitcases by hand.” A *“belt”* is also a narrow strip of leather, cloth, or

metal worn around one’s waist to keep your pants on: “If you’re going to wear a

black suit, you should wear a black belt, not a brown one.” As a verb, *“to belt”* is

used informally to mean to hit something or someone very hard. For example,

*“The baseball player belted the ball and it flew over the fence.”* *“To belt”* can also

be used informally to mean to sing very loudly: “At the college football game, the

fans from our school belted out our school song when one of the players scored

a touchdown to win the game.”

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##CULTURE NOTE

In the United States, large grocery stores sell many thousands of products and it

can sometimes be difficult to find what you’re looking for. For this reason, large

stores are divided into several departments so that shoppers can know where to

find certain items.

For example, a *“meat department”* sells chicken, pork, and beef, and the

employees will usually cut meats to whatever size or shape the customer

requests. A *“seafood department”* sells fresh fish and the employees give

shoppers advice about how best to cook different types of fish. A “frozen foods

department” is usually a store *“aisle”* (row) of refrigerators to keep foods cold. It

offers frozen meats, frozen microwaveable meals, frozen fruits and vegetables,

frozen juices, ice cream, and more.

A *“produce department”* is full of fresh fruits and vegetables. A “bakery

department” sells breads, cookies, and cakes. Many bakery departments will

create specially decorated cakes for customers’ birthdays, weddings, or holiday

celebrations.

Some stores have an *“ethnic foods department”* where shoppers can find

unusual food items that are associated with a particular culture, such as Mexican,

Thai, or Chinese foods. Other stores have an *“organic foods department”* where

shoppers can find *“organic”* foods that are grown without chemicals.

Some larger stores even have *“flower departments”* where shoppers can

purchase *“bouquets”* (arrangements) of fresh flowers. Many expensive stores

have a *“wine department”* that is filled with many types of wines, and expensive

grocery stores often pay a wine expert to help customers choose their wines.

Comprehension Questions Correct Answers: 1 – a; 2 – c

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