Tesco has issued old timers working at some of its 1,500 stores with a handy guide to the kind of English guaranteed to have Middle England choking on its cocoa - that favoured by hoodies, wannabe homies, and anyone under 21 who considers the baseball cap to be the US's greatest contribution to English street culture.

The supermarket monolith has targeted outlets "with a high proportion of employees over retirement age", The Sun reports. The plan is to improve communication between those who prefer "lovely" to "phat" and playing Bridge with their chums to hanging with the bloods.

A Tesco spokesman explained: "This is a one-stop guide for lingo-lean staff to get word-savvy on today's 'deadliest' street phrases. It aims to help bridge the generation gap and offer a guide for older members of staff looking to chat with younger colleagues and customers."

Among the gems on offer are "ballin'" (doing rather well), "slammin'" (not unattractive) and the inevitable "minging" (notably unattractive).

The idea has evidently found favour with employees at the Tesco Extra store in Eastbourne. Lionel Gardner, 70, who works the bread and cakes section, enthused: "It's a great idea. I love working with young people but a lot of the time I have difficulty understanding what they are trying to say."

Ash Coley, 18, from the store's price control, offered: "We youngsters learn a lot from the old timers. It is very interesting to talk to them - especially when they go on about the war. Hopefully, we will be able to have even better conversations with them now with the help of this guide."

The initiative is the brainchild of Tesco PR chief Jon Church, who had the help of daughters Nicola, 15, Gemma, 14, and Hannah, 11, in putting together the aid to transgenerational understanding. He said: "We have a very diverse workforce and customer base and in today's fast-moving world there can be a communication barrier between generations. If the leaflet is well received, we will roll it out to all UK stores." ®

25 comments posted — Comment period finished