Supermarket Cashier

Marco: Hello English learners! Welcome back to EnglishPod! My name is Marco.

Erica: And I’m Erica.

Marco: And today we have an elementary lesson for you and we are at the supermarket.

Erica: That’s right, we’re at the grocery store and we’re going to learn some language you can use when you want to pay for your groceries.

Marco: So, this lesson was requested by one of our users that wanted vocabulary and different phrases that are used, ah, in the supermarket when the person is about to pay for all the things they need.

Erica: That’s right, and we also have some great language that the person who is actually, um, selling the… the groceries can use.

Marco: Alright, so, let’s listen to our dialogue for the first time and see what happens.

Voice: DIALOGUE, FIRST TIME

Erica: Well, we can see in this dialogue that the guy was able to buy his food and… and, you know, they were using some really interesting helpful language.

Marco: That’s right, and so, why don’t we look at this language now in “language takeaway”.

Voice: Language takeaway.

Erica: Okay, we have six words for you today and the first one, the girl, the cashier, says “This is the express check-out lane”.

Marco: Alright, so, check-out lane.

Erica: The check-out lane.

Marco: So, the check-out lane is the place where you get in line to pay for all the goods you bought.

Erica: Right, so, the check-out lane. Now, why did she say express check-out lane.

Marco: So, in s… in grocery stores or in supermarkets sometimes you have a specific check-out lane that’s faster.

Erica: Okay.

Marco: Because people have less things.

Erica: So, express is the faster check-out lane.

Marco: Right, the faster one.

Erica: Alright, so, next she tells the guy to put your items on the belt.

Marco: Okay, the belt.

Erica: The belt.

Marco: A belt. Now, we know belt as the thing you put around your waist.

Erica: To keep your pants up.

Marco: Right, but in a supermarket the belt is the moving table that you put your groceries on, so the cashier starts to pass them through.

Erica: Okay, so, the belt.

Marco: Okay, the belt.

Erica: Put your groceries on the belt.

Marco: And then the guy said that he had a couple of coupons.

Erica: Coupons.

Marco: Coupons.

Erica: A coupon.

Marco: Okay, so, what is a coupon?

Erica: A coupon is a piece of paper you can use to get a discount.

Marco: Alright, so, it has a discount on it.

Erica: A discount for one thing like…

Marco: Uh, okay.

Erica: So, maybe you buy some… some apples and you get ten percent (10%) off one kind of apple.

Marco: Very good, coupons.

Erica: Uhu.

Marco: Now, he presented these coupons and she said they were expired.

Erica: The coupons expired yesterday.

Marco: Expired.

Erica: To expire.

Marco: Alright, so, to expire – that means…

Erica: Um, to be older than the date when you can use them.

Marco: Right, so, why don’t we listen to some other examples of how we can use expired, so we can understand a little bit better?

Voice: Example one.

A: I’m sorry sir, this credit card expired five years ago. You can’t use it anymore.

Voice: Example two.

B: My driver’s license expires in a month, so I have to get it renewed.

Voice: Example three.

C: Don’t drink that! The milk has expired.

Erica: Okay, so, we can see his coupons expired, so they were too old and he couldn’t use them anymore.

Marco: Exactly. And now, finally she asked him if he wants to pay with his club card or cash.

Erica: So, club card.

Marco: Club card.

Erica: What’s a club card?

Marco: So, in some supermarkets you can receive a special type of credit card…

Erica: Okay.

Marco: That you can only use for grocery shopping.

Erica: And only in that store.

Marco: Right, so, that is a club card.

Erica: Alright, so, a club card. Okay, so, he’s going to, uh, pay with a card, but he also asked for some cash back.

Marco: Cash back.

Erica: Could I get cash back?

Marco: Cash back.

Erica: Now, what’s he talking about, can he get cash back? He’s paying with a card. What does he wanna do?

Marco: Well, what happens is sometimes suppose your groceries cost twenty dollars.

Erica: Okay.

Marco: So, instead of charging twenty dollars to your credit card or your club card, you say “Okay, put seventy dollars”.

Erica: Uhu.

Marco: So then the cashier can give you fifty dollars back, so you can have cash in your pocket.

Erica: Uh, so, instead of going to the ATM you can get your money in one spot.

Marco: Exactly.

Erica: Alright.

Marco: So, that’s cash back.

Erica: Interesting, uh, well, why don’t we hear this one more time in the dialogue? But let’s slow it down a little, so we can understand better.

Voice: DIALOGUE, SECOND TIME (slow)

Marco: Alright, so, now that we’ve listened to the dialogue for the second time, it’s time for us to take a look at some phrases in “fluency builder”.

Voice: Fluency builder.

Erica: Okay, we have three phrases for you now. Well, the guy was not having a very good day, was he? So, he couldn’t go in the express check-out lane and he says cut me some slack.

Marco: Cut me some slack.

Erica: To cut someone some slack.

Marco: Alright, now, this is an interesting and very informal phrase, so before we explain it, why don’t we listen to a couple of other examples?

Voice: Example one.

A: Cut me some slack! I’m only two minutes late.

Voice: Example two.

B: My wife just had a baby and I’m so tired. Cut me some slack! I’ll send you the report tomorrow.

Voice: Example three.

C: Emily had a really bad week. I think you should cut her some slack.

Erica: Okay, I think I can understand it means, um, relax the rules a little bit.

Marco: Right, so, don’t be so strict on me.

Erica: Yeah, don’t be so hard.

Marco: Uhu.

Erica: Now, I know this… this phrase actually comes from mounting climbing.

Marco: Oh, really… oh, because of the rope.

Erica: Yeah, so, it’s just… it’s like saying the slack is, um, loose rope.

Marco: Uhu.

Erica: So, he’s just saying “Give me a little bit more freedom”.

Marco: Give me more freedom.

Erica: Uhu.

Marco: Uh, interesting.

Erica: Yep.

Marco: To cut somebody some slack.

Erica: Well, now, the cashier asks him a question; she says do you prefer paper or plastic?

Marco: Do you prefer paper or plastic?

Erica: Paper or plastic.

Marco: Now, this is the common cliché, uh, phrase that any grocery store cashier will use, right?

Erica: Yeah, so, paper or plastic what?

Marco: Bags; paper or plastic bags.

Erica: Alright, so, you’ll hear this all the time in every grocery store: do you want paper or plastic?

Marco: Right, so, you can choose plastic bags or paper bags.

Erica: Okay, remember this one, cause when you get it right, you’ll sound really native like.

Marco: Hehe. Very good. And our last phrase. Since he wasn’t really having a good day, he said it’s just not my day.

Erica: It’s just not my day.

Marco: It’s not my day.

Erica: Okay, so, when it’s not your day…

Marco: It means… the day has been hard, you’re not really lucky.

Erica: Yeah, it’s not… it’s not a good day for you.

Marco: Not a good day.

Erica: Alright, so, let’s listen to the dialogue for the last time and then we’ll come back and talk a little bit about grocery stores in America.

Voice: DIALOGUE, THIRD TIME

Erica: Well, one interesting thing I know about grocery stores in America is that the people who are the cashiers are very often students.

Marco: Right, it’s a very popular summer job or part time job…

Erica: Like…

Marco: Of like college students.

Erica: Yeah, or even, um, in my hometown it was the most common job for high school students.

Marco: Uhu.

Erica: After school if you went to the grocery store between four o’clock and nine o’clock at night, every single cashier would be a high school student.

Marco: And the interesting thing is that the cashiers are usually women, right?

Erica: Yeah, al… always the high school girls, who are the cashiers.

Marco: And so, the high school boys would be working in the back, uh, maybe in the warehouse carrying boxes or staking the shelves.

Erica: So, putting the cans on the shelves, right?

Marco: Exactly.

Erica: Uhu.

Marco: It’s a very popular part time job for students, uh, in the United States, but also, uh, coupons are very popular in America.

Erica: Yeah, what is… what is it about coupons? What…

Marco: Well, usually, for example, in the Sunday newspaper you will receive a lot of coupons.

Erica: Okay.

Marco: Uh, you go to the grocery store and you have all this coupons for like cookies or a promotion on, um… on some type of soda or a drink. So, is very popular, people go grocery shopping and then present all these coupons and actually you can end up saving, uh, good amount of money.

Erica: And now, the coupons are usually like save two cents or save twenty five cents.

Marco: Hehe.

Erica: But I guess if you put all of those together…

Marco: Yeah.

Erica: You can save money.

Marco: It’s interesting, because people actually will buy that product just because they have a coupon for it.

Erica: Huuh. Coupons and high school check-out girls.

Marco: Hehe.

Erica: Well, guys, um, thanks for listening to this show. Now, remember if you have any questions about the language we were talking about in this show, please visit our website at englishpod.com.

Marco: Right, leave all your questions and comments there and also if you have any other suggestions or any doubts, please let us know and, well, we’ll see you guys there.

Erica: So, thanks for listening and until next time… Good bye!

Marco: Bye!