Linux Format forums

[spottedcat]

Marks & Spencer - "5 items or fewer"

Waitrose - "8 items or fewer"

Tesco - "10 items or less"

Sainsburys - "Baskets only"

Moral:

Marks & Sparks is for grammatical pedants who have fat wallets and can afford their prices.
Waitrose is for grammatical pedants who are also foodies - and can afford their prices.
Tesco is for illiterates ("Every little helps.") Every little what helps?
Sainsburys is for those unsure about syntax and who load their baskets up to the ceiling.

Note to non-UK members: Sorry to be so parochial.

[towy71]

Grammatical pedants my a**e, either it is grammatically correct or it's newspeak and beneath contempt

The Tesco one implies that you can take from two to ten items but not a single one
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[nelz]

They all used to say "x items or less" until there were complaints on Grumpy Old Men. The power of TV

The Tesco one does not exclude one item, the plural is correct when offering a choice - "tick one or two boxes", the use of less is clearly wrong.

The Sainsburys' wording implies that either their customers or staff cannot count to ten
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Unix is user-friendly. It's just very selective about who it's friends are.

[Rhakios]

If they've got what I want, it isn't too pricey and the queue's not too long, I don't care what it says.
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Bye, Rhakios

[donoreo]

OT: M&S is expensive over there? I know when we had them in Canada (1973 - 199something after 1995) they were not the cheapest. They were also not big stores here, would fit into malls, but not be "anchor" stores
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I cannot deny anything that I did not say.

[M0PHP]

Obviously sainsbury's aren't that bothered if you have hundreds of tiny items or one of the largest items you can fit in a basket But if you have only a few items in a trolley (ie. too large/heavy to carry in a basket) -Oooohhh no - find another checkout!!
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[Nigel]

Or perhaps Sainsbury's are being kind to the intellectually challenged - do they mean basket-cases only ?

[M0PHP]

Ahhh yes, never thought of that Nigel The 'cases' bit is probably in small-print, it's just that the signs are too high for us to notice it
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[wyliecoyoteuk]

You missed out Morrisons- "Cash only" and "Baskets only" lanes.

And what about ASDA "self checkout" - which often has a "Problem in the bagging area".
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[Rhakios]

Now I thought Morrisons said "Hand Baskets Only", sorry to be pedantic and my memory might even be playing up.
My favourite occupation when our local Safeway was converted to a Morrisons was to go to the basket checkout and say, "Oh! I haven't got too many things, have I? No, of course, it's just hand baskets only now! Not nine items or less. What a relief!"
There were certain checkout Nazis in the Safeway era who would object that you had ten or eleven items if you had picked up some BOGOFs.
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Bye, Rhakios

[Ram]

Tesco - "10 items or less"

The Tesco one implies that you can take from two to ten items but not a single one

no it impiles 2 items or less
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Ubuntu LXDE 12.04 running on AMD Phenom II*4; ASUS Crosshair III Formula MB; 4 GB Ram.....

[Ram]

[wyliecoyoteuk]

[nelz]

Is that for little old ladies who want to give the right money in coppers? Like this?
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Unix is user-friendly. It's just very selective about who it's friends are.

[Rhakios]