# Incredibly common products which the store clerk never heard of **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 23, 2021, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225 "2021-09-23T21:29:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 18
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2021, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225/343 "2021-10-02T00:24:44Z")
And tomato paste is similar in content, just much thicker (you can use paste instead of sauce just by diluting it with water). As best I can tell, the tomato purée you can buy in Ireland is about halfway between the two. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2021, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225/344 "2021-10-02T01:20:51Z")
Passata is an uncooked tomato puree - it’s apparently also called “strained tomatoes” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2021, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225/345 "2021-10-02T01:39:47Z")
My (US) supermarket stocks passata in the Italian section, in glass bottles, and sometimes in just the regular tomato products section. It is similar to what might be sold as “crushed tomatoes” in the US but smoother. No spices, not cooked. It is a very versatile product, since I don’t want spices in my tomato sauce. To me, the generic American “tomato sauce” is pretty obviously spiced, which is why I only keep crushed tomatoes or tomato puree on hand for cooking. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2021, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225/346 "2021-10-02T02:30:00Z")
Some brands are more obviously spiced than others. Most are quite salty. Some have sugar. A lot have bell pepper – i don’t buy those brands. I get tomato sauce rather than crushed tomatoes mostly to avoid the seeds, though. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2021, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225/347 "2021-10-02T03:49:06Z")
> [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > A crock pot makes great apple butter and its very easy. And, in keeping with this thread, a crock pot in the UK is called a slow cooker 😁 I do have one though! ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2021, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225/348 "2021-10-02T04:04:36Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > And, in keeping with this thread, a crock pot in the UK is called a slow cooker That’s the general name in the US, too. Crock Pot is just one of the older brands, and it’s been a little genericized in common speech (i.e., Kleenex vs. tissue). I’d say it’s been declining in popularity, though Instant Pot has been picking up much of the slack. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2021, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225/349 "2021-10-02T09:42:48Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > > [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > > > A crock pot makes great apple butter and its very easy. > > And, in keeping with this thread, a crock pot in the UK is called a slow cooker 😁 I do have one though! Some people over here also call them a slow cooker. Crock Pot is actually a brand name, so there are rules about its usage in advertising, The brand was so popular over here it started to ecome a generic term for slow cookers here in the US. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2021, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225/350 "2021-10-02T21:42:15Z")
In my defense, let me restate: …”My Crock Pot™️ Makes great apple butter and it is very easy”. ---
**Author:** ![FluffyBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@FluffyBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FluffyBob)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2021, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225/351 "2021-10-03T13:08:07Z")
My one visit ever to a Chilli’s, had me asking for some hot sauce. Cholula, Tabasco, … Frank’s? A hot pepper even? You know…a ‘chilli’? Nope. Nada. Not that they didn’t seem to know what they were, but that someone would want such a thing with their meal or have the gaul to expect it was beyond the servers. I know, it’s not exactly authentic Mexican, but even here in Canada where multiple hot sauces on the table is not necessarily a thing, there is usually at least Tabasco available even at the most rural small town family restaurant. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2021, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225/352 "2021-10-03T13:39:45Z")
That’s interesting. If you had asked me, I would have said crushed tomatoes don’t have any noticeable seeds, but the internet tells me, apparently they do. I’ve used them for decades and just never noticed – it always just looked like a thick and slightly textured tomato sauce to me. Apparently, you can run them through a tomato mill to get rid of any seeds, but that’s overkill for when you just want to dump a can into a pot. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2021, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225/353 "2021-10-03T18:22:32Z")
> [@FluffyBob](#): > > My one visit ever to a Chilli’s, had me asking for some hot sauce. Cholula, Tabasco, … Frank’s? A hot pepper even? You know…a ‘chilli’? Nope. Nada. If we’re going to include restaurants, then Waffle House’s complete lack of understanding of what butter is or why anyone would want to put it on a waffle has to rank right up there. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2021, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225/354 "2021-10-03T18:42:22Z")
Someone asked me to go to the store but I couldn’t find ANY of the requested items. They said they hadn’t heard of any of these! Cans of dehydrated water Shelf or board stretcher Long weights Wireless cable Muffler bearings Piston return springs Striped paint Relative bearing grease for the compass Aluminum magnet Ethernet cable stretcher Ship’s middle brake ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2021, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225/355 "2021-10-03T18:47:43Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > Piston return springs - > **[Piston Return Springs - Mubea Disc Springs](https://mubea-discsprings.com/disc-spring-applications/piston-return-springs/)** > > Mubea manufactures top of the line disc springs or disc spring stacks used in piston return springs for transmissions and actuators. ---
**Author:** ![john\_b\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@john\_b\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/john_b_2)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2021, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225/356 "2021-10-03T19:11:59Z")
The Brits also used to be so stubborn about how words should or shouldn’t be used (and pronounced) as to retain the “t” in valet till well into the 20th century; and I suspect many still do. I remember the patriarch of an English family I boarded with for a few months many years ago getting mighty pedantic about such things; as whether people of Scots descent should be called Scots, Scottish or Scotch. The first two were fine, he said, the latter, he insisted, should be used only for whiskey or plaid. Fair enough, I suppose, especially for a Brit, however, as the years passed I’ve become more tolerant of how different kinds of people use words, and I’ve noticed (and read) many Americans using Scotch as to nationality, even those who, when referring to an ancestor who came from Scotland by saying something like “my grand-dad was Scotch”, and having it sound just right,–for an American. This brings up the old braces (for suspenders) and lifts for (elevators) business, and seems to me to raise the issue of whether American English can be considered a simply different rather than wrong way to speak. Americanized English is becoming common everywhere nowadays, and my sense is that, for good or ill, Americans shall “win” this one by sheer force of numbers and, in addition, dominance in the mass media. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2021, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225/357 "2021-10-03T21:57:04Z")
Valet with a t is for the servant, so it doesn’t come up very often. The verb can be said either way (in the UK). Scots and Scottish do have different meanings though - Scots is the Scots language, which is a dialect of English usually considered a separate language - not Gaelic. What Rabbie Burns wrote in. Scottish is the adjective for the people. Scotch does sound weird when applied to people rather than the drink. You might be right about Americans getting their way even with that one, but it’s one where I’d argue that the Scots get the right to say which words are “wrong.” Lift and elevator, no, they’re just different dialect words. Braces/suspenders probably won’t change in UK English because suspenders is used so often for the sexy item used to hold up sheer stockings that using it for the things you use to hold trousers up gives very, very different images. Braces has the teeth version too, but the context makes it very clear which you mean. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2021, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225/358 "2021-10-04T04:38:42Z")
ive always found apple butter in the same aisle as jelly/jam/preserves ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2021, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225/359 "2021-10-04T11:25:23Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > Looks more like salsa than ketchup to me. It’s really chunky looking. Is that typical? God no (and this place doesn’t sell salsa). More likely they’ve made their own ketchup - they do regard themselves as quite a foodie destination. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2021, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225/360 "2021-10-04T11:30:12Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > If we’re going to include restaurants, then Waffle House’s complete lack of understanding of what butter is or why anyone would want to put it on a waffle has to rank right up there. I’m told there are establishments in Chicago where, if you asked for ketchup for your food, they’d look at you like you’d just ordered a cotter pin. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2021, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225/361 "2021-10-04T12:07:49Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I’m told there are establishments in Chicago where, if you asked for ketchup for your food, they’d look at you like you’d just ordered a cotter pin. It would be kinda insulting to a good steak house I imagine. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2021, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225/362 "2021-10-04T12:19:06Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > > [@carrps](#): > > > > Looks more like salsa than ketchup to me. It’s really chunky looking. Is that typical? > > God no (and this place doesn’t sell salsa). More likely they’ve made their own ketchup - they do regard themselves as quite a foodie destination. I think it’s just ketchup, but in a pot with a semi-transparent lid. There’s lights reflecting on the plastic, and the whiteness of the plastic changes the colour somewhat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225.md?page=17) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225.md?page=19)