AT THE SHOP

Pre-Listening 1: The customer asks for a number of things – but what could these be?
With the person next to you, try to work out what the following items might be and fill in the
second column....

What he says… …this could be… What he means… How much…

mouse

parri

sod off

Jewish

Chinaman

C of E

tang - u

pee

soup

my malady

two ast

cack

Listening 1: Now watch the clip and fill in the third column. (What is a ‘habbidy cherry’?
And why does his wife need large ‘brass ears’??)

Listening 2: Now listen to it a second time, find out how much he wants for each item.
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Pronunciation Problems [Key + Script]

Context: What do you do when a customer walks into your shop and
asks for 'cack' or for 'parri' -- or indeed for a 'pee'? A (very wealthy) Arab
walks into the Mini Market. His wife has armed him with a shopping list
(and asked him to go to the haberdashery to run an errand for her later).
But communication can be a problem as pronunciation is not that
particular customer's forte...

Pre-Listen 1: The customer asks for a number of things – but what

could these be? With the person next to you, try to work out what the
following items might be and fill in the second column....

…this could What he

What he says…
be… means…
chocolate
mouse
mousse
parri puree
sod of soda
Jewish juice
Chinaman cinnamon
C of E coffee
tang - u tin of tongue
pee pie
soup soap
my malady marmalade
two ast toast
cack cake

Listening 1: Now watch the clip and fill in the third column. (What is a
‘habbidy cherry’? And why does his wife need large ‘brass ears’??)

Listening 2: Now listen to it a second time, fill in the gaps and make any
changes necessary to the script. [S: Shopkeeper; A: Arab customer; M:
Molly, the shopkeeper’s wife]

S: Here we are then, love. That’s it. That’s £ 6.40. £ 10, thank you

NICK
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very much. £ 3.60 change, thank you. Here we are… * (An Arab
walks into the shop) Oh dear… oh dear… Old Ali Baba is a bit of
course, ain’t he love? * (to the Arab) Morning Abdul! All right, are
you? * (to the woman) Very nice, here we are… Here’s your
change, love. See you again! Ta – ta… Now sir. What can I do you
for, sir?

A: I want…. mouse.

S: Mouse? Mouse? What do you think this is – a pet shop? *

A: Chocolity mouse.

S: Chocolity mouse? Chocolity mouse… Choc – Oh, chocolate mouse?!

You want a chocolate mouse?

A: No, no choc… Mouse! Chocolity mouse.

S: No, no we say ‘chocolate mouse’; now we haven’t got chocolate

mice here, you have to go to the sweet shop for it.

A: No, not ‘mice’ – ‘mouse’!

S: ‘Mice’ my friend is the plural of ‘mouse’ you see…

A: Chocolity mouse… Chocolity mouse – that (he points at something

behind the glass).

S: Oh, that’s ‘chocolate mousse’! Chocolate mousse you mean, is it?

Chocolate mousse..

A: Chocolity mouse.

S: No, no, that’s called ‘Chocolate mousse’.

A: Chocolity mouse (he places a number of banknotes on the counter).

S: (Mesmerised) Yes, that’s… yeah… well, you could call it that, I

suppose… * That’s what I mean – you can call it what you like
really, can’t you? Yes – one Chocolity mouse… I’ll wrap it up, what’s
next?

A: Parri. (S: Parri?) Parri (S: Parri) Parri. (S: Parri?) Parri. Pa – pa –
parri, tomato parri.

S: Tommerto… tommerto parri… tomato parri… tomato parri… * Oh!

Tomato puree! That’s what you mean, tomato puree!

A: No, tomato parri.

S: Tomato… no, no, I must correct you on this one; the… the
pronunciation, the correct pronunciation is… (the Arab starts
taking back his money) …tomato parri. * (the Arab puts his money

NICK
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back on the counter). Tomato parri…. Now where… Molly! Are we

out of tomato parri, love? Tomato parri…

M: (Comes in) Are we out of what?

S: Tomato parri. Oh, it’s all right – it’s right here, right here under me
nose. There we are, sir. One jar of very nice tomato parri, there we
are…

M: Are you two drunk?

S: Shut up – clear of… * Apologies on behalf of the wife, sir…

A: Sod or? ‘Sod er’

S: Yeah, that’s what I say, yeah… *

A: Soder, soder. Bicka bonnet of soder. *

S: Oh, bikarbonet… oh, we’re back on the list, are we? Bikarbonet
ofsoder, very good… bikarbonet ofsoder.

M: Bi-carbonate of soda?

S: (Laughs) bi-carbonate of… Very - they have their uses, don’t they,
sir? There we are, bi-carbonate of soda, is there anything else? *

A: Bikarbonet… yes, Jewish?

S: Who who – her? No, she looks a bit Jewish, but she’s not… *

A: Chinaman…

S: No, we’re not Chinamen, we are both C of E, C of E…

A: (Points to his list) C O V! C O V! C O V!

S: No, she’s not C of E, are you? You’re Muslim, aren’t you?

A: C O V, C O V … (S: C O V) C O V … C O V

M: Cofee!! Oh, I beg your pardon, I mean C O V.

S: Oh, C O V.

M: Where is it, dear?

S: It’s over there, where it always is – by the juice stand.

M: Jewish! Jewish!

S: Oh, that’s it! Jewish! Jewish – that’s it! * What flavour Jewish would
you like, sir?

A: Erm, a-prickit.

NICK
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S: Apriket, oh yes – found apriket?

M: Chinaman!

S: What?

M: Cinnamon!

S: Oh, cinnamon – Chinaman, oh she’s found the Chinaman for you… *

A: Apriket Jewish, yes…

S: What else would you like?

A: Tong-u.

S: Not at all, sir – my pleasure…

A: No, no - * not a pleasure; tong-u… Tong-u… Tin of tong-u.

S: Oh, a tin of tong-u! Oh, there we are, there we are… The bronze,
the bronze tong-u. There we are… What else?

A: Pee.

S: Pardon?

A: Pee!

M: Tinned or frozen?

A: Pee …….. pee!

S: Oh, I know!

A: Pee! I want pee!

S: Yes, of course, yes… Well, you go out here, first… *

A: No, no, no – please, not that. Pee! Pee! Viland and pee…

S: Oh! Veal and ham pie. A nice.. a nice slicky of that, sir, there we
are. Veal and ham pie. Now come on, give me a really hard one,
come on sir, now…

A: I want… I want a soup…

S: Soup?

A: Soup.

S: A-ha! Now I’m catching on to this… You want soup to wash your
hands with, don’t you? * Right, well, we don’t sell that, sir – you
have to go down the chemist’s; he’s a very nice bloke, he’ll cure
anything.

NICK
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A: Ma malady.

S: Yes, he’ll cure your malady for you, yes… *

A: No – mymalady.

S: Mymalady?

A: Mymalady.

S: Mymalady…

A: Mymalady for the twoast. * tu ast

S: The twoast?!? Two arsed?

A: For the twoast. * The twoast, at the breakfast, with the C O V , on

the tu ast…

S: Oh, I’ve got you, I’ve got you… A nice cup of CofE, couple of slices
of twoast, with the ma malady on the top spread on…* There we
are – mymalady. Here we are. Anything else?

A: Ah… cack?

S: Pardon? *

A: Cack? Cack…

S: Oh yes – cack! Very good… There we are… One …Sarah Lee’s very
own. ... chocolate cack. That’s the one… *

A: Very good, very good. Chocolity cack – chocolity cack, chocolity

mouse, tomato parri, bikarbonet ofsoder, jewish, chinaman, apriket
juice, tong-u, pee, soup, mymalady and the cack.

S: Ah, wonderful. £ 300. ** Oh, lovely thank you. 4 p change.

A: No, please… no please, no p change.

S: Oh, no change, all right…

A: No, thank you very much. I now go to happy sherry.

S: Oh, happy sherry? Going down the boozer for a quick one, are you?

A: No, no, no, no boozer… Habbidy sherry.

S: Habbidy sherry?

A: The habbidy sherry for the clothing.

S: Oh – haberdashery! Habbidy sherry, I see…

A: Habbidy sherry, yes. Yes, I’ve got to get large brass ears for my

NICK
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wife.

S: Brass ears? *

A: No, not brass ears; brass ears (he gestures). * Yes, for my wife. She
needs large brass ears, cause her tights are enormous! **

NICK