We normally refer to medicine that is freely available in stores as 'over the counter medicine'
We often refer to the medicine by its type or brand name for example, ' I need to buy some aspirin'
or we may just say
'I need to buy pills/ tablets /medicine" without referring to the type of medicine we are buying.
Medicine that can only be prescribed by a doctor and requires a doctors prescription is called prescription medicine.
In this case we would just refer to the prescription and not the medicine.
'I need to pick up my prescription'
私達は通常店で自由に手に入る薬を'over the counter medicine'と表現します。私達は、買おうとしている薬の種類、ブランド名で薬を表すことが多いです。例えば、 ' I need to buy some aspirin'（アスピリンが必要です）
又は買おうとしている薬の種類を言わずに
'I need to buy pills/ tablets /medicine"（錠剤、タブレット、薬を買う必要があります）とだけ言うこともあります。
医師だけが処方できる又は医師の処方箋が必要な薬は、prescription medicine（処方薬）と呼ばれます。この場合は、medicineではなく、ただprescription(処方箋・処方薬)と言います。
例文
'I need to pick up my prescription'
処方薬を取りに行く必要がある
Medicine which does not require a prescription from a doctor are usually referred to as "over the counter medicine". You can use the phrase in the following ways:
-Are there any over the counter pills I can take for severe headaches? I don't want to go to a doctor.
-Over the counter medicine is usually generic. You can get it for things like headaches and stomachaches.
医者からの処方箋の要らない薬のことは普通、"over the counter medicine"と言います。
以下のように使えます。
-Are there any over the counter pills I can take for severe headaches? I don't want to go to a doctor.
ひどい頭痛のときに服用できる市販薬はありますか？医者には行きたくないんです。
-Over the counter medicine is usually generic. You can get it for things like headaches and stomachaches.
市販薬はたいていジェネリックです。頭痛や腹痛などのために購入できます。
*Over the counter medicine-is medicine bought in a pharmarcy without a prescription. Sometimes simply referred to as OTC medicine. A prescription is a note given by a doctor or specialist with medicine to be bought in a pharmacy. Certain medications are not allowed to be sold without a valid prescription.
Example Sentences:
I'm sorry those tablets require a doctor's prescription.
You can simply buy that cough mixture, no prescription is required, it's a OTC meds.
*Over the counter medicineは、処方箋なしで薬局で買える薬です。OTC medicineと略して表記されることもあります。prescription(処方箋)は、医師や専門家が書く薬局で買える薬に関する書類です。正式な処方箋なしでは買うことが出来ない薬もあります。
例文
I'm sorry those tablets require a doctor's prescription.
すみませんが、これらの錠剤は医師の処方箋が必要です。
処方箋が必要ない咳止め薬であれば買うことが出来ます。それはOTC(市販薬)です。
Over the counter medicine simply means medicine that you can buy in the store without needing a prescription from a doctor. There are a variety of over the counter medicines that we can purchase and usually don't contain a high dose of medicine.
"Over the counter medicine"とは、お店で医者からの処方箋がなくても買える薬をいいます。
"Over the counter medicine"にはいろいろな種類がありますが、服用量が少ないものが多いです。
Over the counter medicine means medicine that you can purchase without a prescription from a medical professional. It is normally bought in a pharmacy (British) or drugstore (American).
'I'm going to the pharmacy to pick up some over the counter painkillers'
'The drugstore sells over the counter remedies for that'
If you said that something (not just medicine) was 'under the counter' you would be saying that it was illicit or illegal.
'He sells out of date stock under the counter'
over the counter medicine'は医師の処方箋がなくても買うことのできる薬をいいます。これは普通、薬局で買います（薬局＝〔英国〕pharmacy、〔米国〕drugstore）。
'I'm going to the pharmacy to pick up some over the counter painkillers'
（薬局に行って痛み止めを買ってくる）
'The drugstore sells over the counter remedies for that'
（その薬局に市販薬があります）
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'under the counter'は、（薬に限らず）物が違法に取引されることを表します。
'He sells out of date stock under the counter'
（彼は期限切れの品をこっそり販売している）
When talking about mediciane you can also call it medication it means the same thing
The term 'over the counter' means you can go and get it without a perscription so you could also say 'non perscription medicine/medication'
MedicineもMedicationも同じ「薬」という意味です。
”Over the counter"とは、処方箋なしで購入できる薬のことです。Non-prescription medicine/medication（処方箋なしの薬）とも言います。
When visiting a doctor, he or she might recommend a medicine that can be purchased directly from a pharmacy or supermarket without the need for a prescription. We call these non-prescription medicines or over-the-counter medicines. In parts of the UK, prescriptions are quite expensive so it’s always a good idea to check if the doctor can suggest an “over-the -counter” medicine.
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