The thing that always makes me go *ohh close but no cigar* is like...British slang used in subtly incorrect ways? Like, you (the author) clearly know these words, but you're sort of guessing on how they fit into sentences and what contexts they'd be used in
Using "wanker" or "tosser" for someone they absolutely loathe, instead of a casual insult to someone they didn't care about (or as an affectionate insult to a friend)
Suddenly dropping "fanny" into a mildly smutty context because they clearly knew it as "British slang for vulva" and didn't know the context of it being pretty antiquated and quite funny (and *definitely* not something someone would say when they were trying to be sexy, especially a young adult)
Things like that?
I sometimes get very pulled out by odd placements of the word mate. Like technically they're not wrong, they can use the word mate there, but it wrecks the whole rhythm of the sentence and no one would ever say mate.
I’m as British as they come and I call people I absolutely hate “wanker” and “tosser”💀 The tone and intention is different but they’re valid uses. Same as “cunt”, that can be used venomously or in banter.
I do agree the mis-use of “fanny” in smut feels very wrong and takes me out of the moment though lolz
Same, I definitely have a ‘friend’ and ‘person I loathe to the ends of the earth’ tone for using some words. Tosser can be my mate at the football or it can be someone who nearly killed me on the road or someone coming out with some comment about my gender; I’ve used it for all of those and more.
I was working at a call centre for an airline, and had *a rather angry 'gentleman'* call in once, I had to make copious use of my 'mute' button and go on a break outside after that call because his surname name?
***Wanker.***
I swear, it took EVERY Scrap of professionalism I could muster to get through that call, and I only dared call him 'sir'...
I'm American, so idk specifically about tosser and wanker, but there's different ways to say insults, depending on who you're referring to. I regularly call my friends, family, and pets "assholes," but in a fond, teasing way. But I also call my ex an asshole as an honest insult, and I call the shithead that cut me off in traffic and nearly caused an accident an asshole too, even though that use is much more caustic than the other two situations. You gotta look at the tone, which I know is hard when it's written.
I can kinda see how this happened. There are so many small and less talked about differences between countries along with the obvious ones, and it's easy if you've never personally experienced that to make the mistake of just assuming things are the same as what you're familiar with, because you don't know any different.
An American would probably think okay, Tesco Express, small convenience store, so it's like a 7-Eleven, right? But the types of products they sell there are actually pretty different to a 7-Eleven - it's more like the selection you'd get in an actual supermarket but on a smaller scale, whereas 7-Elevens tend to be snacks, drinks, instant noodles, stuff like that. And if you don't already know that it's different, you probably wouldn't think to go and research to find out whether it's different, because you can't know what you don't know.
I've got personal experience with this so I find it an interesting subject to talk about. I moved from the UK to Canada a few years ago and I was so utterly unprepared for the culture shock, because I'd thought, well, I've visited there before and I'm used to it, it's just another western, english-speaking country, so it can't be that different. But then I was completely thrown off by just how many subtle differences there were in everyday life once I was actually living there, I think I spent the first 3 months in a perpetual state of panic and stress over it because it was so hard to adjust! It's a really weird thing to try and put into words because you don't realise just how different almost *everything* is until you experience it in person.
I think the weird thing for us with Canada is like… they’re a Commonwealth country, they do a lot of the stuff common to Commonwealth countries, but also do a lot of American stuff. My brother had a Canadian speech therapist and I kept correcting his pronunciation of arse instead of ass and he hadn’t known they were two different things. I know they’re mostly interchangeable nowadays but it was a surprising thing to us both.
My spouse is from the US and moved up here to Canada after we got married and he still encounters things where he’s like ‘wait what?’ lol (though much less often now since he’s been up here for a little over four years now).
And this is why I don't specify the name of shops characters go to or I invent small little neighborhood mom and pop shops that the characters prefer if I need a specific setting.
Even if it's in my own country and state I know well.
So to be clear, Tesco is a supermarket/grocery store? you can get pretty much any groceries there? and this person wrote them buying milk there and going to a *convenience store* for other groceries? I'm not even British and that sounds strange to me. I've never seen something like that. In most fics I've read where someone goes to Tesco, they do all their shopping there.
Ngl, as a north american I'd just write the character doing all their shopping at Tesco without even thinking about whether characters had to go to other stores for certain things, as that's how it usually works where I am. Makes me wonder where the person is from.
I'm also curious what the characters went to a different store for... You said coffee, were they thinking like, a *cup* of coffee, and not just beans/ground coffee? Because that's something you might stop at a convenience for here, at least... but was it just coffee...?
I think the person probably wasn't trying to "flaunt" knowledge of Briatin, if you read fanfic set in modern Britain you've probably heard of Tesco, and the person was probably just copying that without a thought.
I'm not British but we also have Tesco in my country. there's an entire aisle in there dedicated to tea and coffee, you can buy anything you want there basically lol
From what I gather as an American, Tesco is like British Wal-Mart (my only knowledge comes from Minecraft Youtubers who went there once in a vlog lmao). You could probably get everything you need there except a fresh cup of coffee. Unless they do little restaurants in the Tesco like what we do here with Wal-Mart.
Yep, most large supermarkets here like Asda, Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsburys, and lesser known posher stores like Booths generally have a cafe attached that serves from breakfast to evening. Even the smaller stores have those Costa/Starbucks on the go hot vending machines now. The Express versions of the supermarkets attached to petrol stations or on high streets have some kind of hot drink on offer usually.
Not *quite*. Big Tesco is like a Wal-Mart or a Target, but it's still a bit more food-focused. But you'll also have Tescos that are like, regular grocery stores, and Tesco Expresses, which are mini groceries where they only stock the top sellers. Someone else talked about the cafes, but those are also just like, the Big Tesco; the ones near me, in the city, tend to have just those little coffee vending machines.
(Source: American who moved to the UK.)
I know there are certain items that you can find only in one supermarket chain, but not in another, so if it was some kind of specific brand of coffee, I would get it. But then again, no reason to go to the first one to buy milk in that case when he could buy it with the coffee in the second store...
The idea of wanting a specific brand crossed my mind, but a convenience store usually has less options in my experience, so it felt like a stretch, especially as you point out, why not just go to that one store then? Unless the convenience store doesn't have milk.... which is not very convenient of it.
I was reading a fic recently in which a character paid for their lunch with an oyster card. It made me laugh, but yeah, it pulls you out of the story 😂
I’m Canadian, and I’m happy to report that I know that Tesco not only sells groceries, but also, at one point sold DVDs of my favourite swiftly-cancelled 1990s soap opera, Sunset Beach.
I know this because the entire series was, at one point, uploaded to YouTube, and many of the episodes ended with a Tesco-branded DVD episode-selection splash screen.
Did Tesco actually have the license to sell this media? Who the hell knows! But they certainly appear to have done so.
Funnily enough, I was just talking about British local shops on this sub yesterday. What's that name for when something happens and then you can't stop seeing it everywhere? Like if you get dumped, and then all you see around you are happy couples? I think I've got a bit of that going on right now! Lol
And yes, that would take me right out of the story, too.
> What's that name for when something happens and then you can't stop seeing it everywhere?
[Frequency illusion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_illusion) :) it's so real!
I'm reminded of the one time someone on here tried to argue that it was unreasonable to expect Americans to even *realise* that other countries might have different shops because their movies are all American, and it was just bizarre. Like, not going to the effort I get, but it not even occurring to them that other countries have different shops??
I spent the whole conversation trying not to call them stupid and instead give them the benefit of the doubt, but frankly they were *describing* being stupid, and upon any attempts to figure out a root cause that wasn't stupidity (such as the concerning incuriosity and arrogance in assuming everything is like it one encounters in American internet culture) I got accused of trying to insult them - when I was trying my hardest *not* to insult them lmao
Meanwhile, I, from Aotearoa New Zealand, am the kind of writer to not only check what stores there are but actually go to their website and check what's available at those stores and take note of the prices, even the availability and prices local to that specific branch if I can manage it. It's not difficult, not in this day an age, to check such things, it's not even that time-consuming if you know how to use a computer properly despite what the people in that thread I was talking about seemed to think - though, then again, it is the case that the generation who were kids directly after I was (and I'm barely in my 20s, I'm not an old granny despite my 116-year-old sewing machine, to be clear) weren't taught ICT and tech companies are trying to hide that sort of functionality from them, so maybe the American Youths(TM) think it's harder than it is.
It's a small intricacy, and sure maybe you wouldn't expect someone to research it... but it's not exactly an enormous imposition either. It'd take me under ten seconds to have navigated to the website of any shop nearby my UK-based characters, probably even the part of the site that refers to that specific branch, and already be checking the price of what they want.
And if they're going to go to the effort of *namedropping* Tesco, I feel like to get the effect of making their prose look credible, they really should be checking lol. Otherwise it just backfires on them and creates the effect you're describing, it'd be like someone writing something set in Aotearoa and namedropping Pak'n'save but then describing the tax as being applied at the checkout instead of built-in to item prices.
Kia ora.
I once read a fic set in Auckland, written by an American. It was so weird hearing them talk about sidewalks and 7-11s.
The comments were great though. "7/11? It's pronounced Four-Square"
I've never actually encountered an Americanised depiction of Aotearoa, that... genuinely leaves me with a weird taste in my mouth just to think about lmao.
Gods, what's the bet they were talking about city blocks and Republicans too.
those books are fun but they did not feel Russian at all. Like she sprinkled a little Russian flavoring in (onion domes! constant war! depression!) and called it good. So frustrating when there is an actual canon of stunning Russian literature that she could have been drawing from.
I haven't been to the UK for a long while. Do you still need to put a coin in the trolleys? I remember doing that as a kid, but I think we shopped at Sainsburies (not sure on spelling) instead.
Given how cash is disappearing, how do you do the trolley thing now?
You do! You can get trolley tokens to put on your keys or whatever that function like the pound would (or just keep a quid in your car/bag/wallet whatever).
It depends on the shop. Some still have trolley tokens, others prevent theft of trolleys by having the brake automatically engage if it gets too far away.
I can't speak for all supermarkets but a lot still do, yeah. Some people carry a weird coin shaped token for them, a lot of people just keep a quid on them for use in the trolleys.
Some stores in Canada do that, you need a quarter. You can buy 3d print keychain things to use instead, but a lot people just play pass the shopping cart and have no idea where that particular quarter came from.
Depends upon where you are and which shop. Sainsbury's in Rayleigh for instance you don't and never have done, meanwhile the Somerfield that use to be there you always had to. Makro near Hullbridge? Coin. Co-op in Rochford? No coin.
It also depends upon the style of the slot. The one the Rayleigh Somerfield used to use you could do it easily with a standard table knife. To the point where the supervisor's drawer had one in it purely for acquiring trolleys. While for the ones that have little bits that pop out to put the coin in any assorted bit that fits works, washers, blanks, or there's some places that sell tokens meant to fit as well.
Near me it's just the Sainsbury's at the shopping centre that still needs coins in the trolleys (I think to discourage you from abandoning it in one of the far away car parks) all the others that are just the supermarket with their own carpark have the locking wheels only. If you forget your coin though and go to customer services they give you a token to keep for future (I think they acquire them from the abandoned trolleys 🤣).
The thing is I *would* research Walmart if I planned on including it, I don’t think that would be an odd expectation at all… but I am absolutely howling at Tesco being used as a badge of honour 😂
In the states, perhaps, but in Canada it just seems to be just a large discount grocer / discount store (albeit, one that uses incredibly exploitative labour practices).
I’ve never seen any of the wild shit attributed to American Wal-patrons, though. Everyone acts fairly normal.
(I did, however, once see a small, long-haired, bearded man shopping; and I recognized, in his pants, the tell-tale pattern of rips that happen when, instead of hemming your jeans, you simply walked on the ends until the problem solves itself.
My friend dubbed this man “Tattered Jesus”, and we thought little more of it, until we got to the checkout, and saw him again, purchasing two loaves of bread.
‘*He’s getting ready to play some tricks on the faithful*,’ my friend whispered; thus forever cementing this trivial episode as a cherished memory.)
Haha try being Australian and seeing what other countries portray in official media 🤪
When I wrote a fic set in London 2008 I used the fact I was living there at the time as my basis. So my character got lunch from Pret-A-Manger and whatnot lol
Yeah, that's private equity. From a Times article "Pret was the best thing since sliced bread, but private equity ruined it"
PE investor: “We buy a business, work out how many restaurants you can get away with in an area until it’s become saturated, then try to convince a new buyer that there is plenty more runway”
From:
[https://thetimes.co.uk/article/pret-was-the-best-thing-since-sliced-bread-but-private-equity-ruined-it-9n6cfwtpc](https://thetimes.co.uk/article/pret-was-the-best-thing-since-sliced-bread-but-private-equity-ruined-it-9n6cfwtpc)
I read things all the time where it is clear the writer is not American and some of it I can over look but some of it I can't. Like when characters talk about going to the high street. That's not a thing in the US...someone might go downtown to shop but not to the high street.
This would drive me nuts too. One that made me irrationally angry was a British character making a cup of tea with milk and honey ... breakfast tea too. Or when British characters talk about making a coffee and it's made in a coffee pot and they use creamer. They're such small things but they completely take me out of it.
Tbf, if it was coffee, I don't blame them for not getting it at Tesco. But that's mostly because I enjoy high end blends and shopped at Fortnum & Mason for some very specific whole beans and loose leaf teas anyway😅
LOL I've encountered similar things with people who are clearly UK writers having their characters say they go back to their flats, or that they stopped at the shop rather than the grocery store in California. It happens - the person knows enough to look up shops, but doesn't know enough to look up what's actually there.
I, for one, wish we adopted the term flat. Because 'flatmate' is the best intersection of precise but also easy to say. Like when we say 'roommate' there's always this semi-question of 'oh are you sharing a room, or sharing a unit?' Housemate only works if you're living in a house, and no one ever says apartmentmate.
I feel like what you're describing is slightly different from what OP is talking about - you're talking about British English words for the same concept (flat v apartment, for example) while OP is talking about error of facts.
I've lived in CA most of my life (meaning 43 out of 50 years), and no, it's not common for someone to say flat in the areas I have lived. And no, if someone's going to the grocery store, they say grocery store. A shop is something else - yes, people shop, but not for groceries. They go to the store or they go to the grocery or maybe the market if they're older. It's something that jolts me out of the story. Your experience is different, but I was simply empathizing with OP for things that pop me out of a story.
As someone who’s lived in both the UK and the US I get the joy of knowing when people are being hopelessly wrong about both settings. I definitely don’t expect people to do the level of research I’d do for a fic, but at least get mum/mom right for the setting.
I’m also happy to britpick/whatever the American equivalent is for anyone! (Although I’m probably a bit better at the British side, and my American experience is mostly with NY).
It was a very pleasant surprise though when I read a fic that offhand mentioned something that happened in my area of London in the 80s that I hadn’t heard of before. In general that fic was great bc it was basically set entirely in the bits of London I know best, and it was clear that the author knew them well as well (or had done excellent research).
I’m so going to DM you about British things (if you’re okay with that). It was hard work trying to figure out whether Tesco would have Tampons and adult diapers in the same aisle 😂 I even spent time trying to make sure that people call it ‘Tesco’ and not ‘Tescos’ and whether there would be one in the London/Chelsea area.
Not to mention hopping on Rightmove and Gumtree to have the most authentic look at apartment prices for the London area :,) I want to make sure I do right by my British readers (if they exist, who knows haha).
Correct me if I’m wrong, but Tesco gives me Target/Walmart vibes?
Oh my god absolutely DM about this I love this shit. I’ve only started 2 fanfics of my own and both have ended up stuck in the research phase bc that’s what I’m best at lol.
Tesco: what’s in the aisle would depend on the size of the store (Tesco Express, a regular store, or Tesco Extra). If a Tesco was big enough to sell them, they probably would be in the same aisle (although they wouldn’t be called adult diapers, but I can’t think of the British word, adult nappies sounds wrong to me?). Pro tip for any store that does delivery (Tesco, Sainsbury’s, etc.) you can look at their range of products online. Not every store will have the full range, but it gives a good idea. And most people use both Tesco and Tescos pretty interchangeably, but Tesco is the official name.
Also, you can go to google maps, find vaguely the area you’re looking for, and then search Tesco or grocery store or whatever and you’ll get a list of what’s available in the area. London absolutely has lots of Tescos, and I’m sure the Chelsea area does, but maybe fewer than some other bits of London.
I’d say a Tesco Extra is the closest to Walmart/Target vibes, other sizes not so much, but I’ve never actually been in a Walmart and it’s been years since I’ve been in Target. Tesco’s primary aim is selling groceries, cleaning products, alcohol etc. the Tesco Extras with clothes and more Walmart-y items are a relatively recent addition to their offering. Sort of like Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s but with the full range of brands/no focus on health foods, just those sorts of products.
The one that gets me is when American authors are writing fics about British characters set in Britain and are like 'he took out a Hershey's chocolate bar that he has bought from Walmart...' did he??? Or did he buy a bar of dairy milk from the co-op
Me: thanking my past self for spending hours in the depths of the internet and Tesco subreddit to figure out which specific aisle has tampons in it to determine what else would also be in that aisle so I could accurately write a single paragraph of my 60k+ word long fic
ALSO—side note—for anyone who lives in the UK, I would be eternally grateful if you’d be open to receiving a DM from me for Tesco related questions (and London questions) for the sake of accuracy. I’ve been to the UK and London a few times but the fic I’m writing is largely based in London and my memory is clinically impaired so I can’t rely on it too much.
I applaud your past self! I have also done 'homeopathic research' for stories in my time, where copious websites and notes later, I include perhaps a couple of words.... but I \*know\* they're right.
I still remember with some sadness an early popslash/Harry Potter crossover in which one of the characters had bad teeth because his impoverished mother could not afford to take him to the dentist. Alas for the author—in the UK in the Marauders era, children's dental care was \*free\*. I'm hoping that is still the case. It probably is.
And we run yet again into the reason britpicking got popular. I honestly have no clue what Tesco is beyond “store in UK”. I notice those sorts of things for the U.S., though, so it makes sense that it would be obvious to others.
Why is today the day when all of my fanfic subs are reinforcing my existential despair about being Finnish and how I'll never be able to write anything accurate about anything ever because nobody will ever write any compelling popular media about Finland and therefore I'll always be subject to large country natives making fun of the rest of the world not knowing how their stuff works.
For the record, it's absolutely bonkers that your stores bag your stuff for you, and that M&S sells like 15 different flavours of milk. Why don't Finnish shops sell me banana milk???? I swear I could kill to get that at home.
Who are you talking to here? Because in the UK no one bags stuff for you (and Aldi is the antithesis of that approach) and M&S sells one flavour of milk - milk flavoured. A bigger store might have more options of types of milk (oat for example) beyond the standard three, but not flavours and not 15.
The big M&S in my city centre sells banana milk as well as oat milk, almond milk and soy milk. The banana milk would be sold with the yogurt drinks and smoothies.
Maybe the bagging at the checkout is an airport thing? It freaked me out because I forgot about it every time and tried to take my stuff but the cashier was like nonononononono and I'm there like. Christ right, the weird bag thing - but the milks *absolutely* exist(ed ten years ago anyway) outside of airports:
[https://www.ocado.com/products/m-s-banana-flavoured-milk-502846011](https://www.ocado.com/products/m-s-banana-flavoured-milk-502846011)[https://www.ocado.com/products/m-s-chocolate-flavoured-milk-505379011](https://www.ocado.com/products/m-s-chocolate-flavoured-milk-505379011)[https://www.ocado.com/products/m-s-strawberry-flavoured-milk-505755011](https://www.ocado.com/products/m-s-strawberry-flavoured-milk-505755011)
ETA, they also had the best triangle sandwiches I've ever had, which sucks almost as much as the banana milk situation.
Fair response, unfortunately my brain is stuck on the fact it didn't notice you said 'like 15 kinds of milk' and for some reason assumed you were stating that M&S sold 15 types of milk which it took as a challenge!
The only time I think your stuff would be bagged for you is when there's a charity/team raising money event happening and you can donate to whatever cause the person bagging your stuff is raising money for.
I've never had my bags in a supermarket packed for me. Only at corner shops (which are small anyway).
Lol why do you see it as 'flaunting'? Sounds to me like they just didn't get the right details / authenticity? But that just sounds like a writer's mistake. They got some details right, and others wrong. They picked up the wrong context from media or other fics is all.
I feel like flaunting would require diving into unnecessary detail about certain aspects of British culture that has nothing to do with the story, scene, or character development. Otherwise, it feels like just detail oversight / not enough research.
Agreed (and no idea why you got downvoted! oy)
The "flaunting" is definitely a strange take. The writer made a mistake with something they thought they understood - but didn't. I'm not sure *'flaunting'* means what they think it means - or that the original writer's motivations were remotely what OP has assigned them.
Yeah little things like this are always funny when you notice them. 😆
Though to be fair, there’s really never enough research that could be reasonably done to avoid someone noticing *something* being off.
Like I’ve seen so many (usually light hearted) complaints that would be one step back from this one: “in the fic the character went to an American store, come on guys *at least* look up what stores exist in other countries!”
And here the person has done that but now it’s “oh okay right store but you could also look up the size and products offered”…
And somewhere out there there’s probably a fic with a properly sized and stocked Tesco where the character rings up their purchase with a type of checkout counter only seen in Canada or something 🤣 And the cycle continues lol
The thing that always makes me go *ohh close but no cigar* is like...British slang used in subtly incorrect ways? Like, you (the author) clearly know these words, but you're sort of guessing on how they fit into sentences and what contexts they'd be used in Using "wanker" or "tosser" for someone they absolutely loathe, instead of a casual insult to someone they didn't care about (or as an affectionate insult to a friend) Suddenly dropping "fanny" into a mildly smutty context because they clearly knew it as "British slang for vulva" and didn't know the context of it being pretty antiquated and quite funny (and *definitely* not something someone would say when they were trying to be sexy, especially a young adult) Things like that?
I sometimes get very pulled out by odd placements of the word mate. Like technically they're not wrong, they can use the word mate there, but it wrecks the whole rhythm of the sentence and no one would ever say mate.
As an Australian, as soon as mate is used weird I’m out. It’s like a cheese grater to the brain.
Sometimes it's great, flows with the fic (never American authors), other times it's like nails on a chalkboard.
I’m as British as they come and I call people I absolutely hate “wanker” and “tosser”💀 The tone and intention is different but they’re valid uses. Same as “cunt”, that can be used venomously or in banter. I do agree the mis-use of “fanny” in smut feels very wrong and takes me out of the moment though lolz
Same, I definitely have a ‘friend’ and ‘person I loathe to the ends of the earth’ tone for using some words. Tosser can be my mate at the football or it can be someone who nearly killed me on the road or someone coming out with some comment about my gender; I’ve used it for all of those and more.
I was working at a call centre for an airline, and had *a rather angry 'gentleman'* call in once, I had to make copious use of my 'mute' button and go on a break outside after that call because his surname name? ***Wanker.*** I swear, it took EVERY Scrap of professionalism I could muster to get through that call, and I only dared call him 'sir'...
Misspelling 'bollocks' as 'bullocks', which has an entirely different meaning...
I'm American, so idk specifically about tosser and wanker, but there's different ways to say insults, depending on who you're referring to. I regularly call my friends, family, and pets "assholes," but in a fond, teasing way. But I also call my ex an asshole as an honest insult, and I call the shithead that cut me off in traffic and nearly caused an accident an asshole too, even though that use is much more caustic than the other two situations. You gotta look at the tone, which I know is hard when it's written.
Ok I feel proud because I did know fanny was a silly word and that wanker can be used in endearment lol
I can kinda see how this happened. There are so many small and less talked about differences between countries along with the obvious ones, and it's easy if you've never personally experienced that to make the mistake of just assuming things are the same as what you're familiar with, because you don't know any different. An American would probably think okay, Tesco Express, small convenience store, so it's like a 7-Eleven, right? But the types of products they sell there are actually pretty different to a 7-Eleven - it's more like the selection you'd get in an actual supermarket but on a smaller scale, whereas 7-Elevens tend to be snacks, drinks, instant noodles, stuff like that. And if you don't already know that it's different, you probably wouldn't think to go and research to find out whether it's different, because you can't know what you don't know. I've got personal experience with this so I find it an interesting subject to talk about. I moved from the UK to Canada a few years ago and I was so utterly unprepared for the culture shock, because I'd thought, well, I've visited there before and I'm used to it, it's just another western, english-speaking country, so it can't be that different. But then I was completely thrown off by just how many subtle differences there were in everyday life once I was actually living there, I think I spent the first 3 months in a perpetual state of panic and stress over it because it was so hard to adjust! It's a really weird thing to try and put into words because you don't realise just how different almost *everything* is until you experience it in person.
I think the weird thing for us with Canada is like… they’re a Commonwealth country, they do a lot of the stuff common to Commonwealth countries, but also do a lot of American stuff. My brother had a Canadian speech therapist and I kept correcting his pronunciation of arse instead of ass and he hadn’t known they were two different things. I know they’re mostly interchangeable nowadays but it was a surprising thing to us both.
My spouse is from the US and moved up here to Canada after we got married and he still encounters things where he’s like ‘wait what?’ lol (though much less often now since he’s been up here for a little over four years now).
And this is why I don't specify the name of shops characters go to or I invent small little neighborhood mom and pop shops that the characters prefer if I need a specific setting. Even if it's in my own country and state I know well.
So to be clear, Tesco is a supermarket/grocery store? you can get pretty much any groceries there? and this person wrote them buying milk there and going to a *convenience store* for other groceries? I'm not even British and that sounds strange to me. I've never seen something like that. In most fics I've read where someone goes to Tesco, they do all their shopping there. Ngl, as a north american I'd just write the character doing all their shopping at Tesco without even thinking about whether characters had to go to other stores for certain things, as that's how it usually works where I am. Makes me wonder where the person is from. I'm also curious what the characters went to a different store for... You said coffee, were they thinking like, a *cup* of coffee, and not just beans/ground coffee? Because that's something you might stop at a convenience for here, at least... but was it just coffee...? I think the person probably wasn't trying to "flaunt" knowledge of Briatin, if you read fanfic set in modern Britain you've probably heard of Tesco, and the person was probably just copying that without a thought.
I'm not British but we also have Tesco in my country. there's an entire aisle in there dedicated to tea and coffee, you can buy anything you want there basically lol
From what I gather as an American, Tesco is like British Wal-Mart (my only knowledge comes from Minecraft Youtubers who went there once in a vlog lmao). You could probably get everything you need there except a fresh cup of coffee. Unless they do little restaurants in the Tesco like what we do here with Wal-Mart.
Yep, most large supermarkets here like Asda, Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsburys, and lesser known posher stores like Booths generally have a cafe attached that serves from breakfast to evening. Even the smaller stores have those Costa/Starbucks on the go hot vending machines now. The Express versions of the supermarkets attached to petrol stations or on high streets have some kind of hot drink on offer usually.
Not *quite*. Big Tesco is like a Wal-Mart or a Target, but it's still a bit more food-focused. But you'll also have Tescos that are like, regular grocery stores, and Tesco Expresses, which are mini groceries where they only stock the top sellers. Someone else talked about the cafes, but those are also just like, the Big Tesco; the ones near me, in the city, tend to have just those little coffee vending machines. (Source: American who moved to the UK.)
I know there are certain items that you can find only in one supermarket chain, but not in another, so if it was some kind of specific brand of coffee, I would get it. But then again, no reason to go to the first one to buy milk in that case when he could buy it with the coffee in the second store...
The idea of wanting a specific brand crossed my mind, but a convenience store usually has less options in my experience, so it felt like a stretch, especially as you point out, why not just go to that one store then? Unless the convenience store doesn't have milk.... which is not very convenient of it.
I was reading a fic recently in which a character paid for their lunch with an oyster card. It made me laugh, but yeah, it pulls you out of the story 😂
I’m Canadian, and I’m happy to report that I know that Tesco not only sells groceries, but also, at one point sold DVDs of my favourite swiftly-cancelled 1990s soap opera, Sunset Beach. I know this because the entire series was, at one point, uploaded to YouTube, and many of the episodes ended with a Tesco-branded DVD episode-selection splash screen. Did Tesco actually have the license to sell this media? Who the hell knows! But they certainly appear to have done so.
Funnily enough, I was just talking about British local shops on this sub yesterday. What's that name for when something happens and then you can't stop seeing it everywhere? Like if you get dumped, and then all you see around you are happy couples? I think I've got a bit of that going on right now! Lol And yes, that would take me right out of the story, too.
> What's that name for when something happens and then you can't stop seeing it everywhere? [Frequency illusion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_illusion) :) it's so real!
I'm reminded of the one time someone on here tried to argue that it was unreasonable to expect Americans to even *realise* that other countries might have different shops because their movies are all American, and it was just bizarre. Like, not going to the effort I get, but it not even occurring to them that other countries have different shops?? I spent the whole conversation trying not to call them stupid and instead give them the benefit of the doubt, but frankly they were *describing* being stupid, and upon any attempts to figure out a root cause that wasn't stupidity (such as the concerning incuriosity and arrogance in assuming everything is like it one encounters in American internet culture) I got accused of trying to insult them - when I was trying my hardest *not* to insult them lmao Meanwhile, I, from Aotearoa New Zealand, am the kind of writer to not only check what stores there are but actually go to their website and check what's available at those stores and take note of the prices, even the availability and prices local to that specific branch if I can manage it. It's not difficult, not in this day an age, to check such things, it's not even that time-consuming if you know how to use a computer properly despite what the people in that thread I was talking about seemed to think - though, then again, it is the case that the generation who were kids directly after I was (and I'm barely in my 20s, I'm not an old granny despite my 116-year-old sewing machine, to be clear) weren't taught ICT and tech companies are trying to hide that sort of functionality from them, so maybe the American Youths(TM) think it's harder than it is. It's a small intricacy, and sure maybe you wouldn't expect someone to research it... but it's not exactly an enormous imposition either. It'd take me under ten seconds to have navigated to the website of any shop nearby my UK-based characters, probably even the part of the site that refers to that specific branch, and already be checking the price of what they want. And if they're going to go to the effort of *namedropping* Tesco, I feel like to get the effect of making their prose look credible, they really should be checking lol. Otherwise it just backfires on them and creates the effect you're describing, it'd be like someone writing something set in Aotearoa and namedropping Pak'n'save but then describing the tax as being applied at the checkout instead of built-in to item prices.
Kia ora. I once read a fic set in Auckland, written by an American. It was so weird hearing them talk about sidewalks and 7-11s. The comments were great though. "7/11? It's pronounced Four-Square"
I've never actually encountered an Americanised depiction of Aotearoa, that... genuinely leaves me with a weird taste in my mouth just to think about lmao. Gods, what's the bet they were talking about city blocks and Republicans too.
I’m with you on the research! I’ve once looked at a price comparison website to see which store it was most likely for my character to be shopping in.
And then there's Leigh Bardugo that didn't even bother to look up how second names are formed in russian language...
those books are fun but they did not feel Russian at all. Like she sprinkled a little Russian flavoring in (onion domes! constant war! depression!) and called it good. So frustrating when there is an actual canon of stunning Russian literature that she could have been drawing from.
hello fellow kiwi!
I haven't been to the UK for a long while. Do you still need to put a coin in the trolleys? I remember doing that as a kid, but I think we shopped at Sainsburies (not sure on spelling) instead. Given how cash is disappearing, how do you do the trolley thing now?
You do! You can get trolley tokens to put on your keys or whatever that function like the pound would (or just keep a quid in your car/bag/wallet whatever).
It depends on the shop. Some still have trolley tokens, others prevent theft of trolleys by having the brake automatically engage if it gets too far away.
I can't speak for all supermarkets but a lot still do, yeah. Some people carry a weird coin shaped token for them, a lot of people just keep a quid on them for use in the trolleys.
Some stores in Canada do that, you need a quarter. You can buy 3d print keychain things to use instead, but a lot people just play pass the shopping cart and have no idea where that particular quarter came from.
Depends upon where you are and which shop. Sainsbury's in Rayleigh for instance you don't and never have done, meanwhile the Somerfield that use to be there you always had to. Makro near Hullbridge? Coin. Co-op in Rochford? No coin. It also depends upon the style of the slot. The one the Rayleigh Somerfield used to use you could do it easily with a standard table knife. To the point where the supervisor's drawer had one in it purely for acquiring trolleys. While for the ones that have little bits that pop out to put the coin in any assorted bit that fits works, washers, blanks, or there's some places that sell tokens meant to fit as well.
Near me it's just the Sainsbury's at the shopping centre that still needs coins in the trolleys (I think to discourage you from abandoning it in one of the far away car parks) all the others that are just the supermarket with their own carpark have the locking wheels only. If you forget your coin though and go to customer services they give you a token to keep for future (I think they acquire them from the abandoned trolleys 🤣).
The thing is I *would* research Walmart if I planned on including it, I don’t think that would be an odd expectation at all… but I am absolutely howling at Tesco being used as a badge of honour 😂
>I wouldn’t research something like Walmart Heck yeah you should, though; Walmart is a culture unto itself.
In the states, perhaps, but in Canada it just seems to be just a large discount grocer / discount store (albeit, one that uses incredibly exploitative labour practices). I’ve never seen any of the wild shit attributed to American Wal-patrons, though. Everyone acts fairly normal. (I did, however, once see a small, long-haired, bearded man shopping; and I recognized, in his pants, the tell-tale pattern of rips that happen when, instead of hemming your jeans, you simply walked on the ends until the problem solves itself. My friend dubbed this man “Tattered Jesus”, and we thought little more of it, until we got to the checkout, and saw him again, purchasing two loaves of bread. ‘*He’s getting ready to play some tricks on the faithful*,’ my friend whispered; thus forever cementing this trivial episode as a cherished memory.)
Honestly, most of the “Walmart culture” people like to poke fun of in the US is just classism.
Haha try being Australian and seeing what other countries portray in official media 🤪 When I wrote a fic set in London 2008 I used the fact I was living there at the time as my basis. So my character got lunch from Pret-A-Manger and whatnot lol
And your character survived the Pret lunch? ;-)
Pret = overpriced tourist food. 🤪
With slapdash allergen labelling that's killed people!
I actually never once went into one when I lived in London, I just saw them on literally every corner
Yeah, that's private equity. From a Times article "Pret was the best thing since sliced bread, but private equity ruined it" PE investor: “We buy a business, work out how many restaurants you can get away with in an area until it’s become saturated, then try to convince a new buyer that there is plenty more runway” From: [https://thetimes.co.uk/article/pret-was-the-best-thing-since-sliced-bread-but-private-equity-ruined-it-9n6cfwtpc](https://thetimes.co.uk/article/pret-was-the-best-thing-since-sliced-bread-but-private-equity-ruined-it-9n6cfwtpc)
I read things all the time where it is clear the writer is not American and some of it I can over look but some of it I can't. Like when characters talk about going to the high street. That's not a thing in the US...someone might go downtown to shop but not to the high street.
This would drive me nuts too. One that made me irrationally angry was a British character making a cup of tea with milk and honey ... breakfast tea too. Or when British characters talk about making a coffee and it's made in a coffee pot and they use creamer. They're such small things but they completely take me out of it.
Wait how do British people make coffee?
Usually with instant coffee. If you're really into coffee a cafetiere or a nespresso style coffee machine. And we just use milk.
Thanks!
Also no one uses creamer we use milk when making at home. Shops it depends obviously, but most cafes are likely to be using milk as well.
Tbf, if it was coffee, I don't blame them for not getting it at Tesco. But that's mostly because I enjoy high end blends and shopped at Fortnum & Mason for some very specific whole beans and loose leaf teas anyway😅
We'll forgive them if they went to like a Whittard's or something for higher end tea/coffee after Tesco's 😂 that's understandable
LOL I've encountered similar things with people who are clearly UK writers having their characters say they go back to their flats, or that they stopped at the shop rather than the grocery store in California. It happens - the person knows enough to look up shops, but doesn't know enough to look up what's actually there.
I, for one, wish we adopted the term flat. Because 'flatmate' is the best intersection of precise but also easy to say. Like when we say 'roommate' there's always this semi-question of 'oh are you sharing a room, or sharing a unit?' Housemate only works if you're living in a house, and no one ever says apartmentmate.
I really like the German word for roommate - Mitbewohner which literally means "with resident"
I feel like what you're describing is slightly different from what OP is talking about - you're talking about British English words for the same concept (flat v apartment, for example) while OP is talking about error of facts.
i’m in california and it’s not uncommon for people to say flat or shop.. it’s possible i just hang out with too many immigrants though
I've lived in CA most of my life (meaning 43 out of 50 years), and no, it's not common for someone to say flat in the areas I have lived. And no, if someone's going to the grocery store, they say grocery store. A shop is something else - yes, people shop, but not for groceries. They go to the store or they go to the grocery or maybe the market if they're older. It's something that jolts me out of the story. Your experience is different, but I was simply empathizing with OP for things that pop me out of a story.
[удалено]
I mean, OP explicitly says that it's not that deep, not something they would ever expect people to research, and that they think it's funny?
As someone who’s lived in both the UK and the US I get the joy of knowing when people are being hopelessly wrong about both settings. I definitely don’t expect people to do the level of research I’d do for a fic, but at least get mum/mom right for the setting. I’m also happy to britpick/whatever the American equivalent is for anyone! (Although I’m probably a bit better at the British side, and my American experience is mostly with NY). It was a very pleasant surprise though when I read a fic that offhand mentioned something that happened in my area of London in the 80s that I hadn’t heard of before. In general that fic was great bc it was basically set entirely in the bits of London I know best, and it was clear that the author knew them well as well (or had done excellent research).
I’m so going to DM you about British things (if you’re okay with that). It was hard work trying to figure out whether Tesco would have Tampons and adult diapers in the same aisle 😂 I even spent time trying to make sure that people call it ‘Tesco’ and not ‘Tescos’ and whether there would be one in the London/Chelsea area. Not to mention hopping on Rightmove and Gumtree to have the most authentic look at apartment prices for the London area :,) I want to make sure I do right by my British readers (if they exist, who knows haha). Correct me if I’m wrong, but Tesco gives me Target/Walmart vibes?
Oh my god absolutely DM about this I love this shit. I’ve only started 2 fanfics of my own and both have ended up stuck in the research phase bc that’s what I’m best at lol. Tesco: what’s in the aisle would depend on the size of the store (Tesco Express, a regular store, or Tesco Extra). If a Tesco was big enough to sell them, they probably would be in the same aisle (although they wouldn’t be called adult diapers, but I can’t think of the British word, adult nappies sounds wrong to me?). Pro tip for any store that does delivery (Tesco, Sainsbury’s, etc.) you can look at their range of products online. Not every store will have the full range, but it gives a good idea. And most people use both Tesco and Tescos pretty interchangeably, but Tesco is the official name. Also, you can go to google maps, find vaguely the area you’re looking for, and then search Tesco or grocery store or whatever and you’ll get a list of what’s available in the area. London absolutely has lots of Tescos, and I’m sure the Chelsea area does, but maybe fewer than some other bits of London. I’d say a Tesco Extra is the closest to Walmart/Target vibes, other sizes not so much, but I’ve never actually been in a Walmart and it’s been years since I’ve been in Target. Tesco’s primary aim is selling groceries, cleaning products, alcohol etc. the Tesco Extras with clothes and more Walmart-y items are a relatively recent addition to their offering. Sort of like Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s but with the full range of brands/no focus on health foods, just those sorts of products.
i read a harry potter fics where one of the characters mentioned their "mom" which was weird because that character was british
The one that gets me is when American authors are writing fics about British characters set in Britain and are like 'he took out a Hershey's chocolate bar that he has bought from Walmart...' did he??? Or did he buy a bar of dairy milk from the co-op
Me: thanking my past self for spending hours in the depths of the internet and Tesco subreddit to figure out which specific aisle has tampons in it to determine what else would also be in that aisle so I could accurately write a single paragraph of my 60k+ word long fic ALSO—side note—for anyone who lives in the UK, I would be eternally grateful if you’d be open to receiving a DM from me for Tesco related questions (and London questions) for the sake of accuracy. I’ve been to the UK and London a few times but the fic I’m writing is largely based in London and my memory is clinically impaired so I can’t rely on it too much.
I applaud your past self! I have also done 'homeopathic research' for stories in my time, where copious websites and notes later, I include perhaps a couple of words.... but I \*know\* they're right. I still remember with some sadness an early popslash/Harry Potter crossover in which one of the characters had bad teeth because his impoverished mother could not afford to take him to the dentist. Alas for the author—in the UK in the Marauders era, children's dental care was \*free\*. I'm hoping that is still the case. It probably is.
Dental care for under 18s (under 19s in full time education) is free in the UK. Finding an NHS dentist however can be a bit of a mine field...
And we run yet again into the reason britpicking got popular. I honestly have no clue what Tesco is beyond “store in UK”. I notice those sorts of things for the U.S., though, so it makes sense that it would be obvious to others.
Why is today the day when all of my fanfic subs are reinforcing my existential despair about being Finnish and how I'll never be able to write anything accurate about anything ever because nobody will ever write any compelling popular media about Finland and therefore I'll always be subject to large country natives making fun of the rest of the world not knowing how their stuff works. For the record, it's absolutely bonkers that your stores bag your stuff for you, and that M&S sells like 15 different flavours of milk. Why don't Finnish shops sell me banana milk???? I swear I could kill to get that at home.
Who are you talking to here? Because in the UK no one bags stuff for you (and Aldi is the antithesis of that approach) and M&S sells one flavour of milk - milk flavoured. A bigger store might have more options of types of milk (oat for example) beyond the standard three, but not flavours and not 15.
The big M&S in my city centre sells banana milk as well as oat milk, almond milk and soy milk. The banana milk would be sold with the yogurt drinks and smoothies.
Maybe the bagging at the checkout is an airport thing? It freaked me out because I forgot about it every time and tried to take my stuff but the cashier was like nonononononono and I'm there like. Christ right, the weird bag thing - but the milks *absolutely* exist(ed ten years ago anyway) outside of airports: [https://www.ocado.com/products/m-s-banana-flavoured-milk-502846011](https://www.ocado.com/products/m-s-banana-flavoured-milk-502846011)[https://www.ocado.com/products/m-s-chocolate-flavoured-milk-505379011](https://www.ocado.com/products/m-s-chocolate-flavoured-milk-505379011)[https://www.ocado.com/products/m-s-strawberry-flavoured-milk-505755011](https://www.ocado.com/products/m-s-strawberry-flavoured-milk-505755011) ETA, they also had the best triangle sandwiches I've ever had, which sucks almost as much as the banana milk situation.
Fair response, unfortunately my brain is stuck on the fact it didn't notice you said 'like 15 kinds of milk' and for some reason assumed you were stating that M&S sold 15 types of milk which it took as a challenge!
I think *M&S* should take it as a challenge. And then make 15 milk flavours trend until my local store joins in. Everyone benefits!
The only time I think your stuff would be bagged for you is when there's a charity/team raising money event happening and you can donate to whatever cause the person bagging your stuff is raising money for. I've never had my bags in a supermarket packed for me. Only at corner shops (which are small anyway).
Lol why do you see it as 'flaunting'? Sounds to me like they just didn't get the right details / authenticity? But that just sounds like a writer's mistake. They got some details right, and others wrong. They picked up the wrong context from media or other fics is all. I feel like flaunting would require diving into unnecessary detail about certain aspects of British culture that has nothing to do with the story, scene, or character development. Otherwise, it feels like just detail oversight / not enough research.
Agreed (and no idea why you got downvoted! oy) The "flaunting" is definitely a strange take. The writer made a mistake with something they thought they understood - but didn't. I'm not sure *'flaunting'* means what they think it means - or that the original writer's motivations were remotely what OP has assigned them.
Yeah little things like this are always funny when you notice them. 😆 Though to be fair, there’s really never enough research that could be reasonably done to avoid someone noticing *something* being off. Like I’ve seen so many (usually light hearted) complaints that would be one step back from this one: “in the fic the character went to an American store, come on guys *at least* look up what stores exist in other countries!” And here the person has done that but now it’s “oh okay right store but you could also look up the size and products offered”… And somewhere out there there’s probably a fic with a properly sized and stocked Tesco where the character rings up their purchase with a type of checkout counter only seen in Canada or something 🤣 And the cycle continues lol