Sorry if this is a stupid question, but does anybody know of a good way to "look up" everyday terms that, sometimes, in our writing journey, we just forget what some things are called? For instance, I'm writing a scene set inside a college cafeteria and I don't remember what the different "food stores" are called (ex. there's a line for salad, sandwiches, hamburgers, etc.) I know this sounds stupid but are they called "stores" or "stalls" or should I just call them "sections" or something else? I'm drawing a blank and I know I shouldn't be. Ugh, it's so frustrating. When I was a kid, I had a little picture catalog/reference book that showed an everyday scene (like a supermarket) and, next to every item in the scene, there was a label of what each item is called (ex. casher, apple, orange, soda, food cart, etc.) It's not an encyclopedia with an explaination of the items, it just shows the term. Has anyone ever seen something like this before? I wonder if there is a more sophisticated one for adults, haha!
Yeah, lines. Though some school cafeterias have salad bars (make-your-own) and dessert bars (grab-and-go).
Thirded for "lines." Unless you're referencing them from a BOH (Back Of the House) perspective, in which case, they are always referred to as "stations."
Every school I've ever been to has called it "lines" for cafeteria food. But most of the colleges i work at are adopting dining center/food court stuff, with full on fast or semi-fast food restaurants surrounding. Some have left the classic cafeteria stuff mostly behind. They just call those by their actual restaurant name, or type of food, i.e. "I'm feeling Greek food today" or "I'll just settle for Subway, eating cheap."
Thanks Everyone! Yeah, the setup I'm writing is sort of like what EFMingo said, a Food Court type setting. But I didn't want to use an actual resturant name so I'll work with "lines."
I think what you're looking for with the salad is typically called a salad bar. For the others you might want to call them stations. Like the sandwich station or the desert section could work, maybe?
It sounds like a visual dictionary such as are used in English as a Second Language class for kids/teens would be helpful. I don't know of any visual dictionaries that are for adults in North America. There should be some out there, for use in overseas classrooms in other countries but I have no idea how to find them.
I used to have a visual dictionary as a kid as well. Indeed, very handy. I just googled "visual dictionary" and got some interesting sites you could visit. Thanks for the idea!
Write into Google search: what is (expression) called or another word for (something similar to what you want to find out) or (word) synonyms
