[Vocabulary] fish shop or fish store?

[drangiana]

Which on is more common for the place that sells fresh fish for cooking, fish shop or fish store?

 

[tedmc]

I think shop and store are used interchangeably in western countries, though shop is more universal.

 

[Rover_KE]

Which [STRIKE]on[/STRIKE] is more common for the place that sells fresh fish for cooking – fish shop or fish store?

I'll be surprised if 'fish store' is common in any English-speaking country.

 

[drangiana]

I'll be surprised if 'fish store' is common in any English-speaking country.

Thanks for the reply. I meant which one but miswrote it. So is it uncommon or incorrect?

 

[PaulMatthews]

Which on is more common for the place that sells fresh fish for cooking, fish shop or fish store?

In the UK, we are likely to say "fishmonger" (or "fishmonger's").

 

[emsr2d2]

I think shop and store are used interchangeably in western countries, though shop is more universal.

I disagree. They might mean the same but they're not interchangeable. BrE generally uses "shop" and AmE generally uses "store" (when we are talking about a retail environment).

 

[GoesStation]

I'd say "seafood market". Fish shop doesn't sound natural to me.

 

[GoesStation]

I'd say "seafood market". Fish shop doesn't sound natural to me.

I meant "to my American ears". It could be possible in other places.

 

[emsr2d2]

I meant "to my American ears". It could be possible in other places.

In the UK, it's not just possible, it's exactly what we call it (as Piscean said in post #3).

A fish market is where retailers go to buy fish. It's like a wholesaler.
A fish stall is a stall at a market where you can buy fish.
A fish shop is an actual shop (a building with four walls and a door etc) where you can buy fish (to cook at home).
A fish and chip shop (or "chippy") is a shop where you can buy cooked fish and chips to take home and eat.

 

[GoesStation]

Specialized shops of that sort largely (and sadly) vanished from American cities decades ago, along with the vocabulary to describe them.

 

[GoesStation]

Google Maps finds nineteen places that specialize in selling fresh seafood within 200 miles of my house. Ten of them include "market" in their names. None of them describe themselves as stores or shops.

 

[GoesStation]

Though as Paul pointed out, we also call it a fishmonger's. That's the word I usually use, though I suspect that it is dying out.

Say it ain't so! Who will mong the fish, not to mention the iron and whatnot, without mongers?

 

[jutfrank]

Who will mong the fish, not to mention the iron and whatnot, without mongers?

Forget thee not the cheese and coster!

 

[GoesStation]

Forget thee not the cheese and coster!

I get all my costers from Amazon these days.

 

[GoesStation]

I get all my costers from Amazon these days.

They mong them with admirable efficiency.

 

[GoesStation]

For the benefit of learners: the last few posts are a jocular exchange based on the baffling meaning of the suffix "monger". It looks like it should mean "a person who mongs", but since we don't have the verb "to mong" in modern English, that leaves us none the wiser*.

We don't use any of these "XXXmonger" terms in American English. They look charmingly quaint to American eyes and, with the exception of "fishmonger", we can't guess what they mean.

*Look up the underlined expression if you aren't familiar with it.

 

[jutfrank]

They mong them with admirable efficiency.

First among mongers.

 

[tzfujimino]

We don't use any of these "XXXmonger" terms in American English. They look charmingly quaint to American eyes and, with the exception of "fishmonger", we can't guess what they mean.

Don't you use "scaremonger/scaremongering" in American English?

 

[Skrej]

I'm okay with either 'fish shop' or 'fish store' in AmE, but I'd expect them to be a place that sells live aquarium fish, not fish for human consumption.

If I'm buying fish for dinner, then I'd be looking for a seafood market. We don't have those in my part of the US unfortunately, so the closest thing I have is the seafood section (I think they call it the seafood department) in one of my three local grocery stores. The other two grocery stores only have seafood available in the frozen goods section.

Even the stuff in the seafood section is frozen product that's just thawed out for display on ice. None of it is fresh in the sense of "never been frozen". The cooked cocktail shrimp even occasionally still has some ice crystals in it. Shrimp just shouldn't crunch unless it's fried...

We're just too far from any major water sources for actual fresh-caught seafood markets. It all has to be frozen to survive the shipping distances to my region, sadly.

 

[GoesStation]

Don't you use "scaremonger/scaremongering" in American English?

Yes, and "fearmonger", but those words don't fall in the same category. Scaremongers aren't Halloween shops.