# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225/41 "2021-09-24T20:41:05Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > I wasn’t being a difficult customer and kinda resent the suggestion that I was. Don’t take it personally; my remark wasn’t aimed at you. I’m in the USA, and parsnips aren’t as common here. I was simply using that as code for “something an American teenager wouldn’t have heard of.” I probably should have gone with something else, but I was too lazy to think of anything. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225/42 "2021-09-24T20:43:24Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > As far as grass whips go: I’ve seen the ones that look like short-toothed rakes and thought they were simply a type of rake. Around here (SE Louisiana), I doubt one in 1,000 adults would know what a “grass whip” is. First I’ve ever seen or heard of that term was ten minutes ago in this thread. My dad had one of those, but I never saw him using it and didn’t know it had a name. I’ve also never heard the phrase “grass whip” before today, but when I clicked on thorny\_locust’s link I immediately thought, “Oh, those things!” ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225/43 "2021-09-24T20:47:11Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > I really cannot overstate how common parsnips are. If I’m asking for something unusual, I don’t expect all the staff to know what I’m talking about, but these are literally as common as potatoes in winter in England. You know, like the thread title was asking for. There is also the possibility that someone under the age of, say, 18, has never seen a vegetable in its original form, including potatoes. French fries, yes. Chips/crisps, yes. But a whole potato before it’s been cut up and fried? Maybe not. That goes for other vegetables, too. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225/44 "2021-09-24T20:48:21Z")
> [@erysichthon](#): > > Don’t take it personally; my remark wasn’t aimed at you. I’m in the USA, and parsnips aren’t as common here. I was simply using that as code for “something an American teenager wouldn’t have heard of.” I probably should have gone with something else, but I was too lazy to think of anything. OK, but I was really pretty specific that I expected people where I live to know that term. I bet if I’d talked about something you’d done and characterised it as something rude customers do, you’d think it was, well, about you. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225/45 "2021-09-24T20:58:25Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > There is also the possibility that someone under the age of, say, 18, has never seen a vegetable in its original form, including potatoes. French fries, yes. Chips/crisps, yes. But a whole potato before it’s been cut up and fried? Maybe not. That goes for other vegetables, too. Yes, I considered that. Someone under 18 might not know what any vegetable looked like, and some over 18 might not either. Though when you work in a supermarket, or are managing a supermarket, you probably do know the names and appearances of common vegetables sold in your store. These were all adults (I said “man,” referred to one of them being a manager, then later qualified that they weren’t kids), and they literally didn’t know the word. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225/46 "2021-09-24T21:05:46Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I’ve had to tell the checkout clerk the names of vegetables they’ve never heard of. The only one I can remember right now is a rutabaga (which you Brits call a Swede, I believe), but there have been others. I’ve been taking peeled [kohlrabi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kohlrabi) to work for a post-lunch snack and have had cashiers ask what it was. (Though to be honest, identifying produce does not look easy and I’m glad I’m not a cashier. As it is, I use self-checkout and try to memorize the PLU code for any fruit or vegetable items I’m buying.) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225/47 "2021-09-24T21:07:25Z")
In many stores they are put on a tiny end cap somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225/48 "2021-09-24T21:27:11Z")
I don’t like the slushy version of a margarita and I’ve had good success with ordering a “rocks margarita,” for some reason that tracks with the average bartender. I was once in a bar so fucking backward that when I asked for an Irish coffee they pulled a bottle of fucking Bailey’s off the shelf and I said, no, I want a coffee with IRISH WHISKY in it and they literally DID NOT HAVE ANY in the entire bar, not even that swill Jameson’s. I was extremely disappoint and ordered a beer in a bottle because the gods only know what those backward fucks would do trying to draw a pint from a tap. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225/49 "2021-09-24T21:33:08Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/0vPKpMMapEg/hqdefault.jpg "My Blue Heaven - Arugula, it's a vegetable") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vPKpMMapEg) ---
**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:** [September 24, 2021, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225/50 "2021-09-24T21:41:29Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I’ve been taking peeled [kohlrabi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kohlrabi) to work for a post-lunch snack and have had cashiers ask what it was. (Though to be honest, identifying produce does not look easy and I’m glad I’m not a cashier. As it is, I use self-checkout and try to memorize the PLU code for any fruit or vegetable items I’m buying.) Oh, when it comes to root vegetables, it’s a coin toss if the cashier knows the difference between or what one of these is: kohlrabi, parsnip, parsley root, jicama, celery root (celeriac), turnip, rutabaga. And then there’s cassava/manioc/yuca, African yams, etc. Peppers can also get confused quite a bit: anaheim vs banana pepper vs cubanelle; fresnos and jalapenos are often mixed up if the jalapenos are red (we get red jalapenos here in season.) It can get quite confusing unless you use these vegetables regularly (which, for a culture that uses parsnips commonly, it is odd not to know.) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225/51 "2021-09-24T21:43:40Z")
And how can they possibly tell if I’m buying conventional Honeycrisp apples or organic Honeycrisp apples, assuming of course that they’ve figured out that these are Honeycrisp apples. Nectarines and peaches can sometimes be difficult to distinguish if you’re not careful. It’s particularly difficult if the produce is in one of those thin, slightly translucent plastic bags. ---
**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:** [September 24, 2021, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225/52 "2021-09-24T21:45:56Z")
Stuff like that around here they usually put a sticker on. With the other loose vegetables I mentioned, those are usually left stickerless, since there’s no organic equivalent being sold, and they’re reasonably easy to tell apart by sight if you have familiarity with them (as opposed to the myriad apples which are difficult, IMHO, minus a few obvious types. It all depends on what you stock and how different they are.) ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225/53 "2021-09-24T21:51:46Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > No, not a power tool; at least, I’ve never seen the term used for one. > > [Google image: lots of pictures.](https://www.google.com/search?source=univ&tbm=isch&q=grass+whip&client=firefox-b-1-d&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwijkcD-4ZfzAhV8QzABHZaeBxQQjJkEegQIFxAC&biw=594&bih=311&dpr=3) So that’s what that is! I own one, but I never knew it was called a “grass whip.” ---
**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:** [September 24, 2021, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225/54 "2021-09-24T21:54:16Z")
I’ve seen those, but I’ve never heard the term “grass whip,” either. I don’t work at a hardware/gardening store, though. No idea if that’s the name they’re known as around here or if there’s another term. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225/55 "2021-09-24T21:58:48Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > No, not a power tool; at least, I’ve never seen the term used for one. > > [Google image: lots of pictures.](https://www.google.com/search?source=univ&tbm=isch&q=grass+whip&client=firefox-b-1-d&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwijkcD-4ZfzAhV8QzABHZaeBxQQjJkEegQIFxAC&biw=594&bih=311&dpr=3) My dad had one of those when I was growing up. I’m pretty sure we didn’t call it a grass whip, but now I can’t remember what we actually did call it. Actually, I think maybe none of us knew what it was called so we just called it something like “that thing you swing to cut grass with”. > [@erysichthon](#): > > I didn’t know that dried mushrooms existed until today. Me too. I was very familiar with fresh mushroom, and the canned variety, but this thread was the first I’d heard of dried mushrooms. ---
**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:** [September 24, 2021, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225/56 "2021-09-24T21:59:56Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > Dried mushrooms are a thing … but at least around here, they are much more a niche product than they are a cooking staple. Nicer groceries will have them, many places won’t. Here it depends on the store and clientele. Chinese/Asian store? Yep, you’ll find dried shiitake, oyster, wood ear/cloud ear, etc. Eastern European? Porcini, bay boletus, chanterelle, and some others I forget. I think the Italian groceries may have the dried porcinis as well, which you can often find in the upscale supermarkets, as well. The general grocery stores usually will not stock them unless they service an area with a significant population of one of the above groups. There are a number of local chains whose offerings very much vary by the make-up of the area they serve. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225/57 "2021-09-24T22:03:01Z")
Every once in a great while, I get a craving for [Tamales in a can](https://www.amazon.com/Hormel-Beef-Tamales-Ounce-Pack/dp/B000OU5EFW). Last time I went to the local supermarket and asked for them I was told, ‘Tamales do not come in cans!’ I found them two isles over. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225/58 "2021-09-24T22:03:11Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > > [@panache45](#): > > > > Decades ago, I was in need of an optical disc drive. I went to a computer parts store, and nobody there knew what I was talking about. > > Would they have known what you were talking about if you had said “CD-ROM drive”? Probably, depending on how long ago it was. I recall people using phrases like “optical drives” in the 1980s when the technology was new, but I haven’t heard that terminology in a very long time. I remember a library director who insisted on calling music CDs “optical discs,” to the befuddlement of the staff. That was around 1985. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225/59 "2021-09-24T22:10:25Z")
My family didn’t call it anything. They just handed it to you and told you to clear the outhouse path. Also, I’ve have dried mushrooms a few times but you couldn’t get those at the grocery store and they weren’t consumed for gastronomic reasons. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2021, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225/60 "2021-09-24T22:17:16Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > I’m confused too. How do you distinguish a “USB thumb drive” from a “flash drive”? For me, the two terms are synonymous. Same here. Is a ‘thumb drive’ a specialised type of flash drive? > **[USB flash drive](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_flash_drive)** > > A USB flash drive (also thumb drive \[US\], memory stick \[UK\], and pen drive/pendrive elsewhere)\[note 1\] is a data storage device that includes flash memory with an integrated USB interface. A typical USB drive is removable, rewritable, and smaller than an optical disc, and usually weighs less than 30 g (1 oz). Since first offered for sale in late 2000, the storage capacities of USB drives range from 8 to 256 gigabytes (GB\[note 2\]), 512 GB and 1 terabyte (TB\[note 3\]). As of 2023, 2 TB flas Common u... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225.md?page=4)