co-op peckham rye

[puzzled]

the horrible co-op "supermarket" by peckham rye has been shut down and it is being taken apart. a sign outside says "new store coming soon" anyone know what it will be? I know the co-op took over somerfield (what a marriage) so maybe that has something to do with it.

[Booboo2008]

I walked past there too today and think they are just renovating it.

[Lizziedjango]

I don't think it is So horrible. Ok so it could be better but I really like the Co-op. It does great chicken, and at a good price. I hope it stays as Co-op, and not something like Londis or Budgeons. I don't like the stuff those two shops have.

The Co-op could certainly do with a revamp. Sometimes it smells as if a rat has piddled in there, and so often the fridges are broken and they don't have any cold foods. Also the staff doesn't speak very good English at all. Please keep us informed as to what is going on there as that is my nearest 'corner shop'. Ta in advance.

[Sue]

Lizziedjango Wrote:

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Also the staff doesn't speak very good English at all.

xxxxxx

Doesn't they?

Sorry, couldn't resist :)

[SteveT]

I have been in there and I could barely understand them either Lizziedjango had to ask for a repeat which I still didn't comprehend then gave up.

Well over due for an upgrade.

[Lizziedjango]

Sue - sorry to disappoint you regarding my use of language.

However, collective nouns such as 'staff', 'family' and 'government' can, and should, correctly be used as singular forms. I work as a BBC broadcast journalist, and am very aware of the appropriate forms to use.

Examples: 'The staff doesn't speak very good English to its customers' is correct.

Staff is acting as a unit here.

When we refer to a group as an impersonal unit, (and I don't know the Co-op staff so they are an impersonal unit), we should use the singular verb - and relative pronoun 'which'. The BBC should be followed by a singular verb as should 'committee', 'New labour' 'government' and 'staff'.

The exceptions are 'people' and 'police'.

These collective nouns always take a plural verb. There is no singular form of these nouns.

In some contexts it sounds natural and is certainly idiomatic to use a plural verb with a noun - although that doesn't make it correct. Perhaps this is why you felt the need to rather facetiously correct my English on this forum.

To that end, I found your posting to me extremely sarcastic and very rude indeed.

[PeckhamRose]

Lighten up Lizzie.

Sue's post was accompanied by a smiley and a "sorry could't resist".

She was clearly being tongue in cheek and not being rude.

Just because you're a BBC broadcast journalist AND you can write sentences trying to explain stuff, doesn't mean you're perfect. I am not aware of always hearing collective nouns regularly being used in the singular and I watch BBC News, me. It sounds ODD to say "the staff is...", simnple as that. I'll go further and say it sounds wrong.

So I would also have written "the "staff don't speak good English" and I have a Masters Degree in English and everything! So nerr.

Isn't it.

And here's a few commas you missed out ,,,,,,,

[Lizziedjango]

I am afraid that accompanying it with a smiley and a 'sorry couldn't resist' does not make it 'OK' in my book. This is a thread about the Co-op and therefore not really the place to attempt to correct how people write. 'Sue' could have PM'ed me and that would have been more appropriate.

[Asset]

you should see what goes on in some of the other threads!

[Lizziedjango]

No thanks Asset. I'd rather not.

[PeckhamRose]

Blimey Liz, sorry you're having a bad day. Your "book" needs lightening up too, then.

Will we be able to tell it's you on the telly today by your growl?

But back to the Co-op. I like it and I don't care they don't speak good English.

They're polite and they work hard and they always try to be helpful and are always friendly when I ask them where stuff might be. (That's plural stuff, too!) Which is more than you can say for Sainsbury's sometimes.

I look forward to it's new gleamingness. This is a good thing and maybe they took notice of our previous posts.

So stop whining, all of yous. (That's plural.)

[ChavWivaLawDegree]

Haha - I'm on Liz's side cos I hate when people correct me grammer - reminds me of me mum.

[Brendan]

Just a point of note here folks. The pronouns you use for collective nouns can be either singular or plural depending on context. If you are referring to a group of things acting as a unit to perform an action it is singular. If you are referring to a group of things but the individuals within that group are not all acting to one unique purpose then it is plural.

Anyhoo, grammar is a just tool that we use to bash language about with and I fully advocate fuking around with it a bit if it helps you get your point across or adds amusement value or beauty.

[ChavWivaLawDegree]

Mos def

[Scylla100]

Wouldn't it be 'the staff doesn't speak English well?' Isn't it incorrect to say they don't speak 'very good English' ???

So your both wrong, ha bloody ha! (Just don't look too closely as my spelling folks)

Scylla

[Administrator]

Please stay on topic.

[PeckhamRose]

"It's sheep we're up against."

Lamb for dinner. Just one though.

Do or does the Co-op sell lamb? Or lambs?

[Clinker]

I was told by the new Manager that it was staying as the Co-op. It is being taken over by a new set of people and they're giving it a revamp. They said it is going to be stocked up a lot better than it was before. I really liked the Co-op and the people running it (regardless of whether or not they spoke English very well) have always been pleasant and friendly. The Co-op and the Turkish Shop further up the road have very friendly and likeable staff.

[Lizziedjango]

Thank you for that Clinker. I am glad to hear that the shop is staying a Co-op. They do a great range of Fairtrade foods, and some excellent wine deals. Agree with you that the Turkish shop is very friendly and their fruit is very reasonably priced. However, I wish places up that stretch did a range of organic stuff, just staples like milk and bread would be good. It's why I have to, unfortunately, rely on Tesco Express for a mid week shop.

[Sue]

:))Lizziedjango Wrote:

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> I am afraid that accompanying it with a smiley and

> a 'sorry couldn't resist' does not make it 'OK' in

> my book. This is a thread about the Co-op and

> therefore not really the place to attempt to

> correct how people write. 'Sue' could have PM'ed.

> me and that would have been more appropriate.

xxxxxx

My name's Sue, not 'Sue', and coming back from a day out to read this has really brightened my day - rofl :))

I wasn't "attempting to correct how people write", I was making what I thought was a funny comment - sorry you took it so personally.

I have an MA in psychology, shall I analyse your response?

:)):))

Ooops sorry, perhaps I should have PMed you.

[PaulT]

Grammatical tiffs aside, I've always really liked the lovely people at the Co-Op, even if their approach to stock checking seems a little like russian roulette (random, rather than murderous). Also, I don't know if anyone has been doing this, but until they closed for the refurb, I'd not really noticed how much I use the place. I keep wandering down there for milk and bread and then realising (again) that it's closed. It's like trying to get used to a missing limb. But much less traumatic of course. And hopefully, when I get my shiny new bionic arm... I mean, shop, this painful period will have been worth it.

PS - As a licence-fee payer, perhaps the BBC style guide needs an update so that it sounds more like, well, the english language as it is actually spoken?

[*Bob*]

The excitement builds.

A mailout from the good Co-Op folks has just landed on the doormat.

Promised: an 'award-winning new look'. A 'truly irresistible range'. A 'whole new shopping experience'. And ?2 off.

I hope so, because the old Co-Op sucked. Big time.

[PeckhamRose]

What's a new shopping experience? You go in and they tell you what you want? Or you go in and they pay you to take stuff? What's that about then?

Shopping's shopping.

When marketing types talk of shopping experience (like the over-used "solutions" word) I just wanna - indulge in retail therapy!

[HonaloochieB]

*Bob* Wrote:

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> The excitement builds.

>

> A mailout from the good Co-Op folks has just

> landed on the doormat.

> Promised: an 'award-winning new look'. A 'truly

> irresistible range'. A 'whole new shopping

> experience'. And ?2 off.

>

> I hope so, because the old Co-Op sucked. Big time.

Where's the award from? I bet I can resist the range.

And what does a 'whole new shopping experience', mean ?

I go in pick up some items (while sternly resisting some of course) and pay the the award winning staff.

Is it going to be dramatically different than that?

If it is please, please, please let it involve jet-packs, magnets and force fields.

[*Bob*]

I was hoping for some more basic changes.

Not walking in to find dairy products lying around, waiting to be refrigerated? Again.

A shop layout which makes it possible for more than, say, a dozen people to be comfortably shopping / paying for their goods?

Fridges that work properly so that my milk isn't off the day after I get it home, which it has been on a few occasions?

The sale of garlic, limes, fresh herbs and other such 'exotic' produce?

Fixing the battered polystyrene ceiling with exposed wires a-dangling down?

Not to find the ice cream freezer cabinet empty with newspaper and cardboard stuffed in it to catch the drips? Again.

A basic selection of wines you might like to drink, as opposed to wash your windows with?

I can't wait to get in there brandishing my ?2 token.