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English translation: drugstore

11:11 Dec 9, 2003
German to English translations [PRO]
Bus/Financial - Retail
German term or phrase: Drogeriemarkt
This has appeared in the glossary before, but it was US English. I need the British English term for "Drogeriemärkte". In this particular case I don't think it has anything to do with chemists as the text is covering various discount outlets for food items.

This would definitely be a drug store in the States, but what about in GB???
Rebecca Holmes
United States
Local time: 01:46
English translation:drugstore
Explanation:
....if they sell a mixture of food and other items, food store/outlet if they just sell food. Generally in the UK German-type "Drogeriemärkte" don't exist, as all the shops that sell the types of items you find in German "Drogeriemarkt" also sell medicines etc., and are therefore called chemists or pharmacies.

Selected response from:

martineh
Grading comment
Thanks to everyone for their construtive help and commentary. I decided to use "drugstore", come what may!

Ian, thank you very much for your additional help and commentary via e-mail, it seems only fair to award the points to the first person to suggest this answer, however.

Sorry about the peddle/pedal error, kiddies. But, hey, I come from the suburbs of Miami - the is nothing South Floridians don't do with their illegal substances... ;-)

4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +6drugstore
martineh
5 +3chemist
Rolf Klischewski, M.A.
4 +2drugstore (with explanation)
IanW (X)
4 +1Chemist's shop
Edward Guyver
4pharmacy
Stefanie Sendelbach
4pharmacists / pharmaceuticals market
Alexander Schleber (X)
3sundries shop
Maureen Holm, J.D., LL.M.
3chemist chains
Renate FitzRoy
2toiletries/household articles store
Jonathan MacKerron


Discussion entries: 3





  

Answers


0 min   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
pharmacy


Explanation:
One possibility.

Stefanie Sendelbach
Germany
Local time: 07:46
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman
PRO pts in category: 4
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2 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +3
chemist


Explanation:
Another possibility.

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Note added at 2003-12-09 11:17:24 (GMT)
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http://www.boots-plc.com/downloads/Bootslogos.pdf

They call themselves \"chemist\". Says so in their logo. (C;

Rolf Klischewski, M.A.
Local time: 07:46
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  writeaway
11 mins
agree  Rebekka Groß (X): I immediately thought of Boots too, even though it's not a discount store and sells a different range of products than Schlecker/Ihr Platz. There's also Superdrug in the UK, all referred to as chemist. I never heard anyone refer to them as a "drugstore".
17 mins
  -> I thought of Boot's being the rough equivalent of dm in Germany. Love the word "superdrug", though. (C;
neutral  cologne: I don't think it fits since we're talking about a Schlecker type of Drogeriemarkt and not a Apotheke.
30 mins
agree  OlafK: http://www.superdrug.com/
1 hr
  -> I'm all for having a German chain called "Superdrogen". Might attract the wrong crowd, though... (C;
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7 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
Chemist's shop


Explanation:
A Drogerie is not a pharmacy (Apotheke). In the US it is a drugstore and this term is creeping into the UK but the usual term is "chemist's shop" or simply "chemists", as in "I'm going to the chemists".

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2003-12-09 12:30:04 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

In would not be English (English) to say \"I\'m going to the drugstore\", nor \"I\'m going to the pharmacy\". We use the term chemist for a shop that not only dispenses medication but also sells all sorts of products (e.g. non-prescription medicines, vitamin pills, health and beauty products, perfumes, camera films, sandwiches, baby products, etc, etc.).

Edward Guyver
Local time: 06:46
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  writeaway
5 mins
neutral  IanW (X): A chemist's shop is not a Drogeriemarkt, it's an Apotheke
55 mins
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12 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +6
drugstore


Explanation:
....if they sell a mixture of food and other items, food store/outlet if they just sell food. Generally in the UK German-type "Drogeriemärkte" don't exist, as all the shops that sell the types of items you find in German "Drogeriemarkt" also sell medicines etc., and are therefore called chemists or pharmacies.



martineh
Grading comment
Thanks to everyone for their construtive help and commentary. I decided to use "drugstore", come what may!

Ian, thank you very much for your additional help and commentary via e-mail, it seems only fair to award the points to the first person to suggest this answer, however.

Sorry about the peddle/pedal error, kiddies. But, hey, I come from the suburbs of Miami - the is nothing South Floridians don't do with their illegal substances... ;-)

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  cologne: I agree totally, the word drugstore does exist in Britain, here just one example http://uk.schlecker.com/
4 mins
agree  Gareth McMillan: It may well exist, but where? It's not everyday UKE, it's an imported term- but is the coming thing. However, I would just use it, why not? Tell them you are predicting the future! There is no other word anyhow.
9 mins
agree  Cécile Kellermayr
16 mins
agree  D D (X)
42 mins
agree  Textklick: I'd go with that. Duden "Drogerie: Geschäft, in dem nicht apothekenpflichtige Heilmittel, Chemikalien u. Kosmetikartikel verkauft werden. Superdrug in the U.K. have a pharmacy dept so they are really a chemist or pharmacy. Vive la difference.
1 hr
neutral  Jonathan MacKerron: except that in Germany they don't sell drugs as such
1 hr
agree  avantix
2 hrs
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15 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
pharmacists / pharmaceuticals market


Explanation:
The answer depends on whether you are referring to the market itself, or to a type of shop.

Alexander Schleber (X)
Belgium
Local time: 07:46
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 11
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
drugstore (with explanation)


Explanation:
Depending on the sentence in question, I would be tempted to say:
"'drugstores', i.e. retail stores where medicines and miscellaneous articles are sold, ...".

If this is a heading, I would use "drugstores" and explain it the second time the word is used. As Gareth says, there is no word for this in UK English, and not everyone will understand "drugstore" without some kind of explanation.

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Note added at 1 hr 45 mins (2003-12-09 12:57:21 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Rebecca, to answer your question, I would say: \"drugstores (medicine/food retailers)\" - that\'s short enough, isn\'t it?

IanW (X)
Local time: 07:46
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 8

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  cologne: agree totally with you, even though the word does exist it is not all that common.
17 mins
  -> Thanks Jane!
agree  writeaway: drugstore is pretty international-but what would you call Boots? 'cause the Boots chain is in this category
39 mins
  -> Boots is much closer to a chemist than, say, dm here in Germany
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5
toiletries/household articles store


Explanation:
not very nice-sounding I know, but pretty much describes what they sell. One thing they certainly don't sell in Germany is drugs, not even aspirin, skin creams/salves, footbaths, bandaids, tinctures at the very most.

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Note added at 2 hrs 21 mins (2003-12-09 13:33:52 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

There is no equivalent in the US, as CVS, Walgreens and other so-called \"drugstores\" all have integrated pharmacies, which is certainly not the case here in Germany.

Jonathan MacKerron
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 8
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
sundries shop


Explanation:
just a suggestion, since drugstores probably sell more sundries than pharmaceuticals

Maureen Holm, J.D., LL.M.
United States
Local time: 01:46
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
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5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
chemist chains


Explanation:
Don't know if you can use the plural in your context. This would include shops like Boots, Lloyds, Superdrug, SemiChem etc.

Renate FitzRoy
Local time: 06:46
Native speaker of: German
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