"Assistants" in banks and chemists

[Rachel Adams]

Hello.

What do you call people who work in banks and chemists? Are they called "assistants"? Especially those people in banks who help you to use their ATMs. And in chemists the people who sell medicine.

 

[GoesStation]

They're clerks in American English. We don't have chemists' here; we have pharmacies.

 

[PeterCW]

In BrE a bank has clerks and a shop has assistants.


In the UK a pharmacy is a place where medicines are dispensed. The pharmacy may be just one department within a large chemist's shop.

 

[Tdol]

And in BrE, the pronunciation of clerk is /klɑːk/ (clark).

 

[Yankee]

They're clerks in American English. We don't have chemists' here; we have pharmacies(?).

I think you mean "pharmacists".

 

[GoesStation]

I think you mean "pharmacists".

No. A chemist's in British English is something like a drug store in American English: a shop that includes a pharmacy but also sells a range of other products. A pharmacist is a professional who dispenses prescription medicines and can advise patients about them on both sides of the pond.

 

[Rachel Adams]

No. A chemist's in British English is something like a drug store in American English: a shop that includes a pharmacy but also sells a range of other products. A pharmacist is a professional who dispenses prescription medicines and can advise patients about them on both sides of the pond.

Yes, the people drugstores in my area have pharmacists. There are no assistants. I think it works for our drugstores.

 

[Skrej]

You'll also hear 'teller' in reference to the bank employee who handles most of the routine interactions with the public.

I personally tend to use 'teller' instead of 'clerk', but maybe that's just a regional trend.

 

[Yankee]

No. A chemist's in British English is something like a drug store in American English: a shop that includes a pharmacy but also sells a range of other products. A pharmacist is a professional who dispenses prescription medicines and can advise patients about them on both sides of the pond.

Taking your original statement as it stands i.e. "They're clerks in American English. We don't have chemists' here; we have pharmacies." It would appear that you are referring to positions, not businesses.

 

[GoesStation]

Taking your original statement as it stands i.e. "They're clerks in American English. We don't have chemists' here; we have pharmacies." It would appear that you are referring to positions, not businesses.

I wasn't, but I mis-placed the apostrophe. Chemist's is short for "chemist's shop" in British English.

 

[Rachel Adams]

I wasn't, but I mis-placed the apostrophe. Chemist's is short for "chemist's shop" in British English.

Why is there an "s" with shops, chemist's shop, etc?

 

[GoesStation]

Why is there an "s" with shops, chemist's shop, etc?

It was originally "the shop that belongs to the chemist". It may now belong to the Boots corporation, but the name "chemist's" has stuck from long usage.

 

[Rachel Adams]

It was originally "the shop that belongs to the chemist". It may now belong to the Boots corporation, but the name "chemist's" has stuck from long usage.

And "At Tiffany's" the restaurant belongs to a Tiffany. Right?

 

[PeterCW]

You'll also hear 'teller' in reference to the bank employee who handles most of the routine interactions with the public.

I personally tend to use 'teller' instead of 'clerk', but maybe that's just a regional trend.

I always understood that the "teller" was specificlally the person who cashed cheques (checks in AmE) and accepted deposits. When I worked in a British bank after leaving school these people were called "cashiers". There are likely to be other clerks sitting behind them.

 

[GoesStation]

And "At Tiffany's" the restaurant belongs to a Tiffany. Right?

Or belonged to one. Or the name just appealed to the owner, especially if it's a recent, corporate enterprise.

 

[Tarheel]

And "At Tiffany's" the restaurant belongs to a Tiffany. Right?

Do you mean that Tiffany's is owned by a Tiffany?

 

[Tarheel]

Rachel, say:

The drugstores in my area have pharmacists.

 

[Rachel Adams]

Do you mean that Tiffany's is owned by a Tiffany?

Yes, I did.

 

[Tarheel]

Yes, I do.

I didn't know that. (It's probably true.)