# Shopping "carts" in the Queen's English **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 9, 2014, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-carts-in-the-queens-english/688067 "2014-05-09T17:13:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-carts-in-the-queens-english/688067/1 "2014-05-09T17:13:23Z")
In the US, we usually use the terms “shopping carts” (at least here in the Midwest) to refer to the things that you put your groceries in while shopping. What is the traditional term in Great Britain? Carriage? Buggy? Basket? Trolley? Something else entirely? TIA. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-carts-in-the-queens-english/688067/2 "2014-05-09T17:16:56Z")
“Cart” AFAIK. Maybe “trolley” sometimes. _Most_ words are exactly the same in British and American English, you know. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-carts-in-the-queens-english/688067/3 "2014-05-09T17:23:18Z")
I thought trolley was preferred. ---
**Author:** ![Fridgemagnet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/22d042/32.png) [@Fridgemagnet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fridgemagnet)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-carts-in-the-queens-english/688067/4 "2014-05-09T17:23:27Z")
It’s always been trolley, though due to transatlantic cross-pollination I’m sure it’ll become cart eventually. Cart as a noun is generally a 2-wheeled contraption pulled by a horse. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-carts-in-the-queens-english/688067/5 "2014-05-09T17:26:31Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > “Cart” AFAIK. Maybe “trolley” sometimes. > > _Most_ words are exactly the same in British and American English, you know. Yes, I know that most are but I’m also aware that there are some differences. I’ve never heard them referred to as trolleys, that came from Wikipedia. Thanks for the reply. ---
**Author:** ![Bert\_Nobbins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@Bert\_Nobbins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bert_Nobbins)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-carts-in-the-queens-english/688067/6 "2014-05-09T17:26:38Z")
“Shopping trolley” always. Privately owned ones, as used by the elderly for shopping, are sometimes known as a “walley trolley”. Etym dub. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-carts-in-the-queens-english/688067/7 "2014-05-09T17:32:43Z")
I have a photo of a “trolley park” sign in Australia - it’s the “cart return”, the spot in the parking lot where you put your shopping cart after loading the groceries into the boot. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-carts-in-the-queens-english/688067/8 "2014-05-09T17:56:11Z")
Definitely _trolley_. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-carts-in-the-queens-english/688067/9 "2014-05-09T18:16:55Z")
Always trolley, never cart. Just to back up the others after an erroneous first response. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-carts-in-the-queens-english/688067/10 "2014-05-09T18:28:29Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > I have a photo of a “trolley park” sign in Australia - it’s the “cart return”, the spot in the parking lot where you put your shopping cart after loading the groceries into the boot. I usually buy a _trunk_ full of groceries, as my boots will barely hold a couple of oranges. Also, I need them to walk around in. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-carts-in-the-queens-english/688067/11 "2014-05-09T18:53:03Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > I have a photo of a “trolley park” sign in Australia - it’s the “cart return”, the spot in the parking lot where you put your shopping cart after loading the groceries into the boot. Hmmm. I wondered what they were called where the carts were called trolleys. Those are sometimes called “cart corrals” here. Note that dotting the parking lot with them still doesn’t stop people from leaving the carts rolling around the lot. This is a Britishism that has always given me strange mental pictures, like having tracks running around the supermarket aisles with overhead electric wires … ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-carts-in-the-queens-english/688067/12 "2014-05-09T19:46:24Z")
Always trolley. Carts are things that horses pull. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-carts-in-the-queens-english/688067/13 "2014-05-09T19:47:20Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > … > This is a Britishism that has always given me strange mental pictures, like having tracks running around the supermarket aisles with overhead electric wires … That’s because you were brainwashed by Mister Rogers… 🙂 Yeah, the name looked so off-base compared to North American colloquialisms that we took a picture. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-carts-in-the-queens-english/688067/14 "2014-05-09T19:58:11Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > I usually buy a _trunk_ full of groceries, as my boots will barely hold a couple of oranges. Also, I need them to walk around in. 🙂 I have a trunk under the stairs. It’s too big to fit in the car boot. ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-carts-in-the-queens-english/688067/15 "2014-05-09T20:17:06Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > This is a Britishism that has always given me strange mental pictures, like having tracks running around the supermarket aisles with overhead electric wires … Of course that wouldn’t occur to a UKian, since they call those kinds of street-rail vehicles [**trams**](http://www.tfl.gov.uk/modes/trams/) ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-carts-in-the-queens-english/688067/16 "2014-05-09T21:44:20Z")
But most words in British English mean the same thing as in American English! Sorry. Couldn’t resist. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-carts-in-the-queens-english/688067/17 "2014-05-09T22:37:20Z")
Of course we used to have trolley busses: [http://www.jewisheastend.com/trolleybus%201201.jpg](http://www.jewisheastend.com/trolleybus%201201.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-carts-in-the-queens-english/688067/18 "2014-05-09T22:40:48Z")
> [@SirRay](#): > > Of course that wouldn’t occur to a UKian, since they call those kinds of street-rail vehicles [**trams**](http://www.tfl.gov.uk/modes/trams/) > [@jayjay](#): > > But most words in British English mean the same thing as in American English! > > Sorry. Couldn’t resist. 😃 [Trolleybuses.](http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BCLM_various_trolleybuses.jpg) Common in England (under that name) when I was a boy. No rails, but overhead wires alright. I guess I spent too much of my life in America to recall that the things in question are usually called trolleys in Britain. I have been back in the UK almost three years now, and they are still “carts” in my mind. I am pretty sure other British people would not be baffled if I referred to one of them as a “cart” either, even if it is not the word they would be most likely to use themselves. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-carts-in-the-queens-english/688067/19 "2014-05-09T23:29:34Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > I have a photo of a “trolley park” sign in Australia - it’s the “cart return”, the spot in the parking lot where you put your shopping cart after loading the groceries into the boot. Hmmm. They’re almost always called trolleys here. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2014, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-carts-in-the-queens-english/688067/20 "2014-05-10T03:53:20Z")
It’s the wheel that’s the essence of a _trolley_. Electric trams originally had wheels (rather than u-shaped carbon _shoes_) that touched the overhead wire, and those trolley wheels eventually gave their name to the entire vehicle in some cities. In most of North America, _streetcar_ was the much more common term. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-carts-in-the-queens-english/688067.md?page=2)