In my last post on the TRAVEL BOOKS challenge, I called it a twofer. Post it once and tag it twice with “Friendly Friday Challenge” and “What’s On Your Bookshelf”
It’s occurred to me that some people might be unfamiliar with the term. Some might even be less familiar with its homophone.
A twofer is North American slang for ‘two for one’ deals, commonly used in the fast food industry to encourage over-eating.
A twofer should not be confused with a two-four.
A two-four is Canadian slang for a case of beer, commonly used by university students to over-imbibe.
I say university students because that’s when I first heard the term. It along with keggers and pub night were synonymous with week-ends, spring break and general carousing. Not that I would know.
My student days were a long time ago. So much so that I’m not even sure if two-four is still a word anymore. Looking for the Molson Canadian image, I found images for packs of 6, 12, 18, 30, 48 and 60. Golly, times have changed.
Twofer is a relatively new term. I first heard it in commercials for burgers and pizza. In fact, 2-4-1 Pizza is the name of a popular chain in eastern Canada.
An equivalent marketing slang is Buy-One-Get-One-Free, sometimes shortened to BOGO.
I think BOGO is confusing. The first time I heard it was when a sales clerk was excitedly pushing a promotion to “Buy One and Get ONE!” I wasn’t quite as excited as I fully expected to get one if I was buying it. Wouldn’t you?!
Do you use these slang words in your part of the world? Do you have local equivalents or are they universally understood?
Let me know in the comments below. I am interested to see!
The Sandy Chronicles 
This is horrible. π¦ It makes me angry, how industry has been purposefully enlarging stomachs of the population. Also horrible – 100% Canadian. We have it here, except of course it says “100% Italian”. Damn purists who create demand for such wording. I watch the NBA games, as one does, and all those horrible food commercials… just yuck. Or that star promoting Mountain Dew. Just… no.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have learned to tune them out. It might be my age, but I can see past the visuals and know that things don’t taste as good as they say. Maybe it helps that I don’t watch sports .. and so I miss the commercials too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Interestingβ¦ never paid attention. In India βBOGOβ is a popular marketing gimmick. Now I will pay more attention. Please enclose ur gmail as now I am in Toronto. Somehow I am not receiving ur posts. This one I saw through βSearchβ.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The new improved version of WordPress has been acting very peculiar lately. I’m glad you re-found me!
Glad to hear you’re back in Toronto as I’m almost about to head out west. If you contact me on my About page, I’ll get your email & we can contine off-line.
LikeLike
I’ve seen BOGO in ads, but I can’t say I like it. Does anyone actually say this?
Fair warning, I’m going to sound like a crotchety old lady now, but… “Have a good one.” Really? How hard is to say, ‘day?”
Sorry π
LikeLiked by 1 person
You have a point … maybe no one in Canada actually says BOGO. Its more common to hear “Buy one get two” or buy “Two for One.”
It was in Singapore where I heard people say “buy one get one.”
But it’s not the first time Singaporeans have surprised me by inverting english eg. instead of ‘black & blue’ they say ‘blue & black’
But we all mash up english & make it our own. To be Canadian, we could say “Have a good one, eh” … which would be much better than “Have a good day, eh” eh? π
LikeLiked by 2 people
LOL! Everything sounds better with eh? π
LikeLike
Hi, Sandy – Thank you for adding this. I hadn’t heard of Buy One Get One Free referred to as BOGO (or BOGOFF) before. Perhaps I just wasn’t paying attention.
And this from the resident nerd: Twofer has come to mean many different things. It originated in the early 20th century (originally denoting a cigar sold at two for a quarter of a cent): representing a pronunciation of two for in ‘two for the price of one. It has also been used to refer to two tickets for a theatrical performance at a reduced price. Finally, and a term that makes me cringe, it has been used disparagingly to denote someone who belongs to two different minority groups, e.g. a black woman who is counted twice for her position.
Thank you again for inviting WOYBS to Guest Host for FFC — and thank you for being such an active participant!
LikeLiked by 1 person
We should have written this post together! I didn’t know all the origins & alternate definitions for twofer. We collaborate well and should do it again π
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m game anytime. I think that our approaches are quite similiar. But your technical knowledge and expertise is much more advanced than mine! π
LikeLiked by 1 person
Interesting Sandy π Here we don’t use the acronym BOGO but rather BOGOF (Buy One Get One Free) – usually pronounced ‘bog off’, which sounds rather rude π A pack of beers is usually a six-pack, which is also slang for a man with a well-toned body!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can just imagine the funny situations where a sales person would tell someone to ‘bog off’!
I’m familiar with the term “six-pack”, in both definitions. Funny how one never leads to the other π
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for that. Love local lingo. Will keep that in mind when I head to Canada.
In Australia it would just be a ‘case’ or if it was 6 beers it would be a ‘6 pack’
LikeLiked by 1 person
When visiting, a difference to keep in mind is that beer and alcohol is only sold in government outlets. The only exception being Quebec which does sell in grocery & small convenience stores. I suppose that’s why we have such a wide range of units in cases … I suppose 6 packs are hardly worth a special run to get yer beer π
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks. βΊοΈ
LikeLike
My favourite sign in a shoe shop. “Buy one………get one free” π
LikeLiked by 3 people
Funny!
LikeLiked by 1 person