35

I’m looking for a term to cover the kinds of things that we frequently buy at the grocery store but that are not actually groceries.

The term needs to include things like: toilet paper, kitchen napkins, band aids, detergents (laundry, dish), cleansers, bath soap and shampoo, paper towels, trash bags, hand cream, tooth paste, sun block, hair spray, bug spray, deodorant, batteries, matches.

But it should not include things like: clothing, furniture, appliances, cookware.

Someone suggested to me “household goods,” but I think that includes things like furniture and home appliances, and so is too broad.

Any suggestions?

Marthaª
  • 32,910
curious-proofreader
  • 4,582
  • 9
    In India, they are simply called household utilities or household products. But I think "utilities" imply something totally different in the US/UK, stuff like running water, electricity, air conditioning etc.. – BiscuitBoy Feb 24 '16 at 05:32
  • 3
    In a typical large UK supermarket nowadays you can buy virtually anything from a mobile phone to brussel-sprouts. – WS2 Feb 24 '16 at 08:04
  • 3
    In Norwegian we have a word that means "daily goods", meaning the stuff you buy almost every day. (In reality they should be called "weekly goods", but when did reality ever matter) Maybe English has something similar? – Stig Hemmer Feb 24 '16 at 11:40
  • 2
    In Catalan and Spanish a 'drogueria' is a shop that basically sells what you describe. The word apparently comes from the Dutch droge vate meaning 'dry vats' - as opposed, presumably, to wet ones. So one might argue that drugs is a valid term. Or at least one might try. – Jeremy Feb 24 '16 at 13:25
  • 2
    There is the term "dry goods" in the US, but it mostly means clothing and the like. – Hot Licks Feb 24 '16 at 18:39
  • "Toiletries?" Seems like it'd fit those. – Casey Feb 24 '16 at 21:04
  • "Necessities" is another option, although that can include clothes and sometimes food depending on context. I have never heard "household goods" meant to include furniture though, small appliances perhaps (like a blender, not an oven). – Matthew Read Feb 24 '16 at 22:34
  • "Paper products" can be used for some of the obvious ones, often including trash bags since they are often on the same aisle. – Necreaux Feb 25 '16 at 13:15
  • In Slovakia we use term 'drogeria' for the items or a store you described and term 'potraviny' for food items or a store selling those items. We don't really have mixed stores like grocery stores in the US (except for supermarkets) We have a store called 'vecierka' that sells a small variety of mixed items at a premium and is open late, something like a convenience store in the US – Cano64 Feb 26 '16 at 15:17
  • The name's, Ash. Housewares. –YouTube (volume and language warning) – Mazura Feb 27 '16 at 07:52

14 Answers14

72

You might go with sundries

Various items not important enough to be mentioned individually (here)

While this meaning is a bit broader than what you describe, there is a convention of using sundries for exactly the types of items you list (toiletries, etc.). This is evinced by the sample phrase Oxford Dictionary Online uses in the link, "a drugstore selling newspapers, magazines, and sundries."

Further, Vocabulary.com writes:

Most people associate the word sundry with the old-fashioned drugstore in their neighborhood that used to sell all sorts of odds and ends, from magazines to hairbrushes (here).

Lastly, here is a sign from an old general store contrasting groceries with sundries.

DyingIsFun
  • 17,909
  • 12
    It's a bit playful and old-fashioned; not a word most people would typically use. – J... Feb 24 '16 at 11:44
  • @J... It doesn't feel old fashioned to me in Ireland, but it might be more of a British Isles word. – SuperBiasedMan Feb 24 '16 at 12:10
  • 4
    @SuperBiasedMan I lived in the UK for five years and don't think I ever heard it once. That said, Tesco Ireland has a section called "household sundries" while Tesco UK calls them "household goods". Seems at least to be an Irish Isle word, if not a British Isles word. (If we're happy using Tesco as the common-man's OED ;D ) – J... Feb 24 '16 at 12:21
  • @J... Curious! I tend to assume words we use here are the same as over there unless they're related to the Irish language, I guess I got caught out by that exception. – SuperBiasedMan Feb 24 '16 at 12:42
  • This is exactly what we call it in Maine. Groceries and sundries. – Kit Z. Fox Feb 24 '16 at 13:40
  • 3
    I don't hear many people say it, but I see it on receipts in the US. – Joshua Taylor Feb 24 '16 at 14:53
  • 1
    American here, and it's the first word I thought of. – WernerCD Feb 24 '16 at 15:14
  • Canadian here, and the phrase "various and sundry items" is not really that uncommon in print though not said very often. 41 years old and sundries was the word I would have suggested. – Rick Henderson Feb 24 '16 at 15:24
  • 1
    @RickHenderson I'm Canadian also, and I will often use "sundries", but it's always to be deliberately colourful. Other than mom-and-pop stores, maybe, you don't usually hear (or see) this being used by supermarkets or producers to describe these products. I'd say "sundries", at least in Canada (and to some degree in the UK) is lightly both informal and a bit quaint. – J... Feb 24 '16 at 15:40
  • I think "sundries" is reasonably well-known here in the UK as well as in the republic of Ireland. Even if UK supermarkets use it less than those in IE. It was the first word I thought of when reading the question. – RedGrittyBrick Feb 24 '16 at 15:51
  • 3
    Sundries are small articles of a miscellaneous kind; esp. small items lumped together in an account as not needing individual mention(OED). they are not clearly anything. They are what's left after the big items have been listed. This is not what the OP is asking for. When did you last hear anyone say they were off to buy some 'sundries'? – Dan Feb 24 '16 at 23:40
  • 2
    @Dan, I mention in my answer that the dictionary definition is broader than what the OP asks for, but point out that there is a pretty robust convention of using "sundries" for exactly the items he/she wants, as others have confirmed with their comments. – DyingIsFun Feb 24 '16 at 23:44
  • 2
    @Silenus - The problem I have with 'sundries' apart from it being the word for things-too-unimportant-to-name (and therefore not answering the OP), is that I have never heard anyone say that they were off to buy some 'sundries', or ask "Are there any sundries we need?" – Dan Feb 24 '16 at 23:47
  • 2
    @Dan, fair enough. You might not have it in your region. But the fact that some stores have signs marked "sundries" and the fact that other users on here seem to agree with the usage I point to should go some way toward vindicating my position. Here is a sign from an old general store contrasting groceries with sundries: http://www.jenniferpricestudio.com/art/wall-art/vintage-lunch-sign/ – DyingIsFun Feb 24 '16 at 23:52
  • @Silenus - Very good! I'll be keeping my eyes out hereabouts to see if the word is used here in Bristol UK more than I realise. – Dan Feb 25 '16 at 00:00
  • @Silenus - Just to clarify. Do you actually say "I'm off to buy some sundries" or "I better go to the shops, we're needing a whole lot of sundries"? – Dan Feb 25 '16 at 00:01
  • @Dan, regardless of what I need to buy, I tend to default to saying something like "I need to pick up some groceries" or "I need to pick up some odds and ends." But other people certainly say things like "I'm off to pick up some sundries." For some reason "whole lot of sundries" sounds marked to me. – DyingIsFun Feb 25 '16 at 00:06
  • @Silenus - I wish I spoke American. 'sounds marked'?? What does that mean please? – Dan Feb 25 '16 at 00:08
  • @Dan, I picked up the term from linguistics rather than from American English. The way I usually use it, one says that a construction sounds marked if it sounds a little off, but not so much as to be ungrammatical. – DyingIsFun Feb 25 '16 at 00:13
32

I would definitely go with household items.

The apartment we rented was completely empty. We had to buy a whole bunch of household items ourselves.

Household items differ from furniture etc, in that they are expendables, things you use up -- like all of your examples, but unlike a vase, decorations, furniture, curtains, rugs etc. A cloth is a grey area, depending on its durability.

Marthaª
  • 32,910
jumps4fun
  • 737
27

This may not be what you are after, but all of the things you can buy at a grocery store are called groceries (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/grocery).

"Household Supplies" may be an alternative?

RadioRaheem
  • 598
17

The answer here differs greatly by country, at least in terms of common usage in a supermarket context.

In Canada we often call them "Household Supplies", but "Household Products" and "Household items" are also not uncommon.

In the UK, Aus, and NZ it's mostly "Household Products", Aus. South Africa as well, but "Household Items" also seems to be used.

Ireland seems to use "Household Sundries"

"Household goods" and "Household items" seem variously interchangeable to mean sometimes food and non-food items, but generally the latter especially in sentences which contrast the term specifically with food:

Brand X produces a range of food and household items...

J...
  • 786
15

All these items are rightly called groceries.

A Grocer is someone who buys and sells in the gross, i.e. in large quantities, a wholesale dealer or merchant; also with mention of the article dealt in, e.g. fish(OED). All goods sold by a grocer are called groceries. There is no limitation on what a grocer may sell.

If you want to indicate a grocer's particular specialty then you can qualify with the product-type of your choice. In the UK, for example, there is a sub-group of grocers called greengrocers, who sell fresh fruit and vegetables.

In general food 'grocers' have special names - butcher, baker, er... candle-stick maker, fishmonger ... . 'Grocer' is the name for what nobody else specialises in (i.e. most of the things on the OP list!)

There does seem to be a difference of opinion about whether groceries can be used for non-food items. I checked a few online dictionaries and found the following:

  • Merriam-Webster

    plural : commodities sold by a grocer —usually singular in British usage

    And they define grocer as (emphasis mine):

    a person who sells food and other supplies for people's houses.

  • Dictionary.com (emphasis mine)

    food and other commodities sold by a grocer.

  • The Free Dictionary

    1. A store selling foodstuffs and various household supplies. Also called grocery store.

    2. groceries Commodities sold by a grocer.

  • Online Oxford Dictionary

    (groceries) Items of food sold in a grocery or supermarket.

So, 3 out of 4 suggest the term can be used for non-food items bought at a grocery store and only one limits the word to foodstuff alone.

terdon
  • 21,559
Dan
  • 17,948
  • 17
    Even if technically correct, I think "groceries" strongly connotes food (in the US at least) and probably isn't what the OP wants. That is, I think using "groceries" in his/her context would lead to confusion. – JKillian Feb 24 '16 at 15:50
  • 2
    @JKillian - you can always say 'non-food' or 'inedible' groceries. – Dan Feb 24 '16 at 16:24
  • 6
    @dan sure, if you want to sound like a robot. a better course would be to choose a word that is actually commonly used to describe what you want to describe. that's how language works. – user428517 Feb 24 '16 at 17:23
  • 6
    @sgroves , Maybe this is a regional thing in the US. I've seen the term groceries used in this sense in the Midwest; I found the original question odd. Groceries is technically correct (the best kind of correct), and in regular use in many areas. – Shadow503 Feb 24 '16 at 19:03
  • 1
    Saying that "groceries" is technically correct as a blanket term for items from toilet paper to matches, seems like saying that "animal" is technically correct as a blanket term for bulldogs, terriers, chihuahuas, etc. The blanket term should conventionally apply only to the types of items the OP lists. But I agree the OP was wrong to include that bit about toilet paper and matches not being groceries. In a wider sense of "groceries", they certainly are. – DyingIsFun Feb 24 '16 at 19:29
  • 3
    OP specifically excluded "groceries" from his word search. -1 – Mindwin Remember Monica Feb 24 '16 at 21:22
  • 9
    @Dan "Inedible groceries" sounds like expired meat or something. – David Feb 24 '16 at 22:04
  • 1
    @sgroves - does 'household groceries' sound any better? No better word has been offered. 'Sundries' - says nothing to me aside from being 'other stuff'. – Dan Feb 24 '16 at 23:10
  • 2
    @Mindwin - OP does not, clearly, exclude 'groceries'. OP appears to be using 'groceries' with a preconceived and incorrect idea of what 'groceries are (i.e. OP appears to think that 'groceries' refers only to foodstuffs). – Dan Feb 24 '16 at 23:15
  • @David - I completely agree. A poor suggestion! – Dan Feb 24 '16 at 23:16
  • 5
    @dan i think it's not just op, but rather most people who would not consider non-edible items to be "groceries". because of that, even though "groceries" may be technically correct, it is probably not the best word to use if you actually want to be understood without having to clarify. do you see what i mean? groceries, while technically correct, is NOT the best choice here. being technically correct only matters in, well, technical writing. – user428517 Feb 24 '16 at 23:20
  • @sgroves - what is your preferred name for non-edible groceries? – Dan Feb 24 '16 at 23:34
  • @dan probably something like what some of the other answerers said: "household items" or "household supplies". i can't think of a one-word term for this besides "groceries" (which, again, i don't think would be immediately understood by most people), so i wouldn't use one. not every concept has a good one-word description, and that's okay. – user428517 Feb 24 '16 at 23:40
  • 1
    @sgroves Do you have any evidence that "most people" across the world wouldn't call non-edible things groceries? From the answers this question it is getting it seems pretty likely this has regional differences. – curiousdannii Feb 25 '16 at 12:00
  • @sgroves yes, I for one would probably refer to anything bought at a supermarket as groceries. Not if I were talking about a specific item, such as a tooth brush, but certainly if I were referring to the collection of bags in the car. This usage is also mentioned in at least one online dictionary: "food and other commodities sold by a grocer". – terdon Feb 25 '16 at 13:12
  • 3
    @Dan I just added some definitions supporting this use of groceries(and one arguing against it). I didn't feel they were worth posting an answer. Please feel free to revert the edit but, if you do, let me know and I'll post a separate answer. – terdon Feb 25 '16 at 13:37
  • Usage is the measure of language — not etymology or literalistic arguments of what’s “technically correct”. That said, to me (Brit, also lived a few years each in the US and Canada), including non-food items under groceries feels perfectly normal to me. So it definitely seems from these comments that there are significant numbers of people on both sides of this usage question — some do use it that way, some don’t. – PLL Feb 27 '16 at 09:05
  • This answer appears to be a relative of the etymological fallacy. The assumption is that, since a grocer is somebody who sells X, Y and Z, each of X, Y and Z must be groceries. This is clearly false reasoning: being born in a stable does not make one a horse. – David Richerby Feb 27 '16 at 19:03
  • @DavidRicherby - A grocer is someone who buys and sells in the gross, (i.e. in large quantities, a wholesale dealer or merchant). If you buy and sell in the gross you are a grocer - your comment is a red herring. – Dan Sep 08 '16 at 13:29
  • @Dan You quote the OED but fail to note that it marks it as obsolete. As I said, this is the etymological fallacy: the belief that the etymology of the word defines its only possible meaning. The only current definition of grocer in the OED is "A trader who deals in spices, dried fruits, sugar, and, in general, all articles of domestic consumption except those that are considered the distinctive wares of some other class of tradesmen." – David Richerby Sep 08 '16 at 14:36
  • @DavidRicherby - What is a grocery store if it's not a shop selling groceries? Who is a grocer if not a person who sells groceries? The fact that additional meanings of grocer and groceries may have arisen does not stop the words having a useful role with their older meanings. Obsolescence is a matter of choice. Btw - what do you understand by 'articles of domestic consumption'? – Dan Sep 08 '16 at 23:58
  • @Dan *facepalm* Sure, a grocery store is a store that sells groceries. But that doesn't mean that everything for sale inside a grocery store is groceries. Just like a stable is a building for keeping horses in, but that doesn't mean that every animal inside a stable is a horse – David Richerby Sep 08 '16 at 23:58
  • Actually NOT just like a stable... at all! Most people these days would expect to find horses in a stable. Of course, the word 'stable' could be used to describe a place to house monkeys, snakes and eagles... provided we were not hidebound by an etymological fallacy regarding precisely what a stable is. – Dan Sep 09 '16 at 00:14
7

This may be jargon used in the (UK) retail industry, but "non-food" is sometimes used in supermarkets.

David Garner
  • 2,137
  • 3
    I think by non-food Tesco, Sainsbury etc mean the things in the non-food part of the shop - clothing, appliances, TVs etc. My guess is that toilet rolls, and toothbrushes would be included under food in that particular nomenclature. You hear things like Tesco's problem arose by expanding too much into non-food. I don't think they mean things like washing-powder when they say that. – WS2 Feb 24 '16 at 07:58
  • I think non-food groceries might just work. – Chris H Feb 24 '16 at 08:51
  • 1
    Washing powder is food? – gerrit Feb 24 '16 at 15:53
  • 2
    Now that my head's started aching, where does paracetamol belong? – David Garner Feb 24 '16 at 15:54
  • 2
    @gerrit obviously not ... but who said it was? i believe ws2 meant that while items such as washing powder are not food, they are nonetheless NOT included in the specific jargon term "non-food" used by supermarkets. the actual meaning of "non-food" is probably closer to "non-food-or-popular-household-items-that-people-would-expect-to-find-at-any-supermarket". – user428517 Feb 24 '16 at 23:41
  • @WS2: There's the further jargon "Fast Moving Consumer Goods" (FMCG) which doesn't include TV's etc. However, it may be ambiguous whether it implies non-food. – MSalters Feb 25 '16 at 12:00
  • Non-food certainly includes TVs, furniture etc. which was exactly what the OP did not want. Otherwise a good answer ;-). – Peter - Reinstate Monica Feb 26 '16 at 16:34
  • "You hear things like 'Tesco's problem arose by expanding too much into non-food.' I don't think they mean things like washing-powder when they say that." Selling washing powder is not expanding too much into non-food; it's expanding a reasonable amount into non-food. Selling, e.g., cars would be expanding too much into non-food. You can't conclude that washing powder is not non-food from the example usage you gave. – David Richerby Feb 27 '16 at 19:07
7

Perhaps "staples" would suit your needs.

4 a : a commodity for which the demand is constant (MW)

It might be more fitting as an adjective.

Examples of staple in a sentence such staple items as flour and sugar

Adrian Larson
  • 470
  • The question is clearly asking for a word to describe inedible items. – phoog Feb 24 '16 at 18:06
  • 1
    How does that relate to my answer? This term often does describe inedible items. – Adrian Larson Feb 24 '16 at 18:10
  • 3
    Staples includes edible items so it does not answer the question, which seems to seek a term that denotes only inedible items. – phoog Feb 24 '16 at 18:15
  • 1
    If a storm were coming and I went to the store for "staples" in the US, that would include bread, milk and toilet paper. – Kristina Lopez Feb 24 '16 at 18:45
  • All of the above also applies to sundries. – Adrian Larson Feb 24 '16 at 19:03
  • 1
    BUT I've never heard anyone say they are offf to buy some 'sundries'. Sundries are small articles of a miscellaneous kind; esp. small items lumped together in an account as not needing individual mention(OED). they are not clearly anything. They are what's left after the big items have been listed. This is not what the OP is asking for. – Dan Feb 24 '16 at 23:39
  • Then don't up-vote... Maybe it's not spot on for you personally but it's what I thought of right away when I saw the question and to say it's totally off base is somewhat disingenuous. – Adrian Larson Feb 25 '16 at 00:22
  • To me, staples strongly relates to food items, not non-food items. For example, "the staple grain in Europe is wheat, but in southeast Asia it is rice." – The Photon Feb 25 '16 at 17:28
4

The word "consumables" might also be appropriate.

"Before the storm hit we decided to go to the grocery store to get food and other consumables."

Rick Henderson
  • 181
  • I know I use this for anything in that zone, but that's as an artifact of playing video games... – Vogie Feb 25 '16 at 17:07
4

If you want a jargonistic industry term, I would say "non-food fast-moving consumer goods" or "non-food FMCG".

Some definitions of FMCG:

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/fastmoving-consumer-goods-fmcg.asp https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast-moving_consumer_goods

dangph
  • 6,011
1

They would all fit under the definition of consumables. Unfortunately food would as well, so how about "non-food consumables?"

myleftsock
  • 11
  • And have you ever heard anyone say that? Requests on ELU usually mean "What phrase do people use for X?" not "Could you please invent a phrase for X?" – David Richerby Feb 27 '16 at 19:04
1

I categorize items such those as, Misc. Essentials. A catch-all for items I buy frequently though not necessarily at the same time.

J. Patrick
  • 11
1

Here are some close misses which might be useful.

Most, but not all, of those things would be toiletries. From the Free Dictionary:

n. pl. toi·let·ries An article, such as toothpaste or a hairbrush, used in personal grooming or dressing.

Another option would be necessities, but that could include food. From the Free Dictionary:

n, pl -ties 1. (sometimes plural) something needed for a desired result; prerequisite: necessities of life.

DCShannon
  • 2,143
0

All of the goods you described are Commodities in the sense that they are products and have some value or utility as per http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/commodity

By this definition all the food items you bought are also commodities.

Sqeaky
  • 109
-4

I nominate "non-comestibles."

co·mes·ti·ble kəˈmestəbəl
noun 1. an item of food. "a fridge groaning with comestibles"

Senex Ægypti Parvi
  • 2,358
  • 2
    just because a word exists doesn't mean you should ever use it. – user428517 Feb 24 '16 at 23:45
  • Probably because "not food", which is the literal meaning of your suggestion, doesn't actually suggest the set of items the OP is talking about. A car isn't food. A brick isn't food. A television isn't food. The question specifically requires "it should not include things like: clothing, furniture, appliances, cookware." and your answer fails in this respect. – Ben Voigt Feb 26 '16 at 15:05