This article illustrates the well-known idea that dictionaries are depositories of cultural heritage in the same way as monuments, festivals or libraries. As symbolic objects, they are testimonies to historical and cultural realities that need to be perpetuated and transmitted. A contemporary dictionary of retailing is discussed here as encompassing today’s and yesterday’s realities in different parts of the world. More than just a depository of words, this dictionary accounts for habits, customs and usages described in full-fleged encyclopedic articles. Archaïsms and neologisms, new connotations and socio-linguistic factors penetrate and influence the language of trade, creating a tension between local and international usage, with the inevitable dominance of American English in modern retailing. Examples are given in French, English and Spanish.