DCHP-2

tuck shop Tuck Shop DCHP-2 (July 2016)

• n. — especially Ontario

  a small store selling snacks and miscellaneous items, often inside a hospital or school.

  Type: 2. Preservation — The term appears to have been preserved from British English (see OED-3, s.v. "tuck shop"). However, in British English, tuck shop usually refers specifically to a sweet shop for children and youth. In the Canadian context, the meaning has been generalized to include any small shop that sells snacks; however, South African English (see Chart 1, .za) employs the term most frequently and most diversely. As Chart 2 shows, within Canada the term is centred in Ontario (like other terms, such as cube van.
  See also COD-2, s.v. "tuck shop" (1), which is marked "Cdn"; in light of Chart 1, it is a Commonwealth term that can only be considered Canadian in relation to low use in the US.

  See also: cube van