divendres, 14 de desembre del 2018

6 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN AMERICAN ‘DRUGSTORES’ AND BRITISH ‘CHEMISTS’

Reading Dog Days from Jeff Kinney, a Wimpy Kid's book, -that's my level- I found Greg's father buys his clothes in the pharmacy. It, from Europe, it's a bit odd..



6 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN AMERICAN ‘DRUGSTORES’ AND BRITISH ‘CHEMISTS’

BY JON LANGFORD



Liquor and party favors in your local ‘chemist’? We’re not in Boots anymore, Toto. (Photo via Long Beach Louie)
Party favor: A party favor or party favour is a small gift given to the guests at a party as a gesture of thanks for their attendance, a memento of the occasion, or simply as an aid to frivolity.
Boots: (formerly Boots the Chemists Ltd), trading as Boots, is a health and beauty retailer and pharmacy chain in the United Kingdom, Ireland, other territories.:
Toto: Dorothy's little black dog in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

In Britain, one would pop to the chemist to tend to their everyday ailments, whereas in America, you’d swing by the more dangerous sounding “drugstore” to get your meds. In principle, the two serve the same purpose, but there are many differences between the British and American pharmaceutical experience.

American drugstores moonlight as convenience stores
The fundamental difference between U.S. and U.K. pharmacies is that in the States, the establishments masquerade as general convenience stores where you can get everyday essentials like cat food, cockroach traps and Christina Aguilera’s new fragrance, 24 hours a day. In Britain, on the other hand, the chemist remains a place one doesn’t want to frequent, because if you’re there, it’s to pick up a prescription.

Convenience store: A convenience store or convenience shop is a small retail business that stocks a range of everyday items such as groceries, snack foods, confectionery, soft drinks, tobacco products, over-the-counter drugs, toiletries, newspapers, and magazines. In some jurisdictions, convenience stores are licensed to sell alcohol, typically beer and wine. Such stores may also offer money order and wire transfer services.
A convenience store may be part of a gas/petrol station, so customers can purchase goods conveniently while filling their vehicle with fuel. It may be located alongside a busy road, in an urban area, near a railway or railroad station, or at another transport hub. In some countries, convenience stores have long shopping hours, some remaining open 24 hours.
Convenience stores usually charge significantly higher prices than conventional grocery stores or supermarkets, as these stores order smaller quantities of inventory at higher per-unit prices from wholesalers. However, convenience stores make up for this loss by having longer open hours, serving more locations, and having shorter cashier lines.
A convenience store may also be called a c-store, cold store, party store, bodega, carry out, mini-market, mini-mart, konbini, corner shop (British English-speaking countries) depanneur or dep (the last two are loanwords from the French term used in parts of Canada).
Masquerade: To masquerade as someone or something means to pretend to be that person or thing, particularly in order to deceive other people

Drugstores in the U.S. are fun for all the family
In America, pharmacies are huge, kid-friendly places with shelves stacked full of crappy plastic toys and just about every conceivable candy bar. It is not a place little ones fear; on the contrary, a trip to Rite Aid is met from the backseat with a whoop or two of delight. Chemists in Britain, however, have bored-looking, sometimes weepy, always snotty children fidgeting in chairs while their mum waits for the prescription to cure their snottiness (and hopefully their fidgets too). The only saving grace for these poor little cherubs is the promise of a lollipop (that for some reason also functions as a whistle before it’s sucked on too much) if they keep their whining to a minimum.
Rite Aid: Rite Aid Corporation is a drugstore chain in the United States.
Whoop: If you whoop, you shout loudly in a very happy or excited way.
Weepy: Sad
Snotty: In this case is a kid with fluid coming out from his nose. But If you describe someone as snotty, you disapprove of them because they have a very proud and superior attitude to other people.
Fidget: If you fidget, you keep moving your hands or feet slightly or changing your position slightly, for example because you are nervous, bored, or excited.
Cherub [tʃerəb]: A cherub is a kind of angel that is represented in art as a naked child with wings.
Whining: If something or someone whines, they make a long, high-pitched noise, especially one which sounds sad or unpleasant: He could hear her dog barking and whining in the background.

You can get things in Walgreens you’d never get in Boots
“They sell cigarettes and alcohol in a chemist?!” That was the medical paradox set before my fresh-off-the-boat eyes during my inaugural visit to a U.S. pharmacy back in the summer of 2007. And frankly, it scared the Brit out of me. How could a store, that by definition exists to sell medicine to sick people, be trading in products that could ultimately kill them? It seemed so unethical.
Fast-forward to present day New York City, and the only time I ever have occasion to use the word “chemist” is if I’m visiting a laboratory. Which is never. It’s “drugstore” now. And I take the convenience of being able to nip there to pick up a six-pack of Heineken for granted.
Walgreens: Walgreen Company or simply Walgreens is an American company that operates as the second-largest pharmacy store chain in the United States behind CVS Health.
Brit: British people are sometimes referred to as Brits.
Fresh-off-the-boat eyes: The phrases fresh off the boat (FOB), off the boat (OTB), banana boat (BB), or just simply boat are terms used to describe immigrants who have arrived from a foreign nation and have yet to assimilate into the host nation's culture, language, and behaviour, but still continue with their ethnic ideas and practices.
Fast-forward: To direct one's attention towards a particular time or event, ignoring intervening material.
Being able to nip: You can pick up something

You say tomato…
As far as everyday pharmaceutical products are concerned there are some classic nuances between American and British names for the same thing. I remember the first time I asked an American for a plaster. Nothing. Zip. Nada. After explaining that I required a small dressing to cover a minor scrape, I was informed that what I needed was a Band-Aid. The charity supergroup formed by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure? No, the brand name term generically used in the U.S. for an adhesive bandage.
Then there was the time I went into a Duane Reade and asked where they kept the Deep Heat. Looking back, I think the cashier thought I was inquiring where I might find the guns. I clarified that I was only interested in purchasing a menthol muscle rub and the cashier told me he had some Ben-Gay on aisle nine. And then I was the confused one.
Nuance: A nuance is a small difference in sound, feeling, appearance, or meaning.
Plaster (UK) = Band-Aid (USA)
Duane Reade: Duane Reade Inc. /ˈduːeɪn riːd/ is a chain of pharmacy and convenience stores owned by Walgreens Boots Alliance.
Deep Heat: Deep Heat is the UK's No.1 selling heat brand. Deep Heat Rub, spray and patches are recommended for muscular aches, pains and stiffness and provides targeted pain relief plus penetrating heat therapy.
Rub: Rub is a substance that you massage into your skin.
Ben-Gay: Bengay, spelled Ben-Gay before 1995, is a topical analgesic heat rub, applied to temporarily relieve muscle and joint pain associated with arthritis, bruises, simple backaches, sprains and strains.
Aisle: passageway between sections of seats in rows

Possible side effects
Generally speaking, in Britain you need a prescription for something that might actually work, whereas in America, you have the freedom to dose yourself with all kinds of exotic drugs that could have all manner of ludicrous possible side effects. A recent infomercial for a new drug to combat the common cold listed the following: temporary psychosis, gambling addiction, enlargement of the feet, yellowing of the skin and eyes, and, in severe cases, an inexplicable penchant for ‘80’s rock ballads.
Ludicrous: ridiculous, crazy [informal], absurd, preposterous

Different products
Although I miss not being able to readily get my Britpaws on certain chemist staples —Lucozade, Migraleve, Vaseline lip balm in a tin (which melts in the blistering heat of a New York summer anyway)—there are some American products for which I’m grateful and former expat pals always ask me to bring them when I visit England, a list which includes Neosporin, melatonin, and Crest whitening strips, to name but three items.
Melatonin is an interesting case in point. In most of North America it is sold over-the-counter as a dietary supplement and not as a drug. Whereas in the U.K., it is available only on prescription as the European Economic Community (EEC) hasn’t passed it for safe use because not enough is known about the long-term effects of prolonged consumption.  But then pharmacies in America have to offer a wide range of strong over-the-counter drugs so that the 40 million+ people living here without health insurance have access to medicine without having to first consult a doctor.
Britpaws: ???
Staple: A staple is something that forms an important part of something else. In other sense is the metal piece that join two papers. Staple-machine.


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