# Dust bin VS Garbage bin [dustbin, garbage can, trash can]



## cicciosa

Hello everyone,
is there any difference between *dust bin* and *garbage bin*?

Thanks,
cicciosa


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## tepatria

In BE it is a dust bin. Here in my area we call it a garbage can. I don't know about a garbage bin.


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## MJSinLondon

In BE usually written as one word "dustbin".  But something of an endangered species now, often displaced by the ubiquitous _wheelie bin_!


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## zdrastvuite

I've never heard "dust bin" before. Trash can is most common where I'm from, but garbage bin/can is also heard.


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## Johnny519

Is trash can mostly used in AM and dustin in BE? What about recycling bin? British English? 

By the way, does trash can also mean the container you put in the corner of the house in order to collect rubbish before taking them away?


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## natkretep

<Moderator note: Johnny's thread has been merged with an earlier thread>

Yes, I say _dustbin _(not _dustin_) for the rubbish bin outside. The one indoors is a waste paper basket (not for food items) or waste bin (for food and non-food items).


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## Mahantongo

Recycling bin (or recycling can, or recycling container) is also AE -- assuming that one lives in an area where there is recycling.  In AE, the word "bin" is not typically used to refer to the relatively small containers used for disposing of trash from a private house.  If used at all, it would refer to something larger, like a dumpster.  Thus, "garbage bin" probably isn't used by anyone, as Americans would say "garbage can", and Britons would say "rubbish bin".


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## Andygc

Mahantongo said:


> and Britons would say "rubbish bin".


No. For domestic waste, left outside the house, for weekly or 2-weekly collection, it is "dustbin" (if round with a separate lid) or "wheelie bin" (if roughly square, on 2 wheels and with a hinged lid). A "rubbish bin" could be any one of a wide variety of bins, including street litter bins and bins on buses and trains.


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## Johnny519

Mahantongo said:


> Recycling bin (or recycling can, or recycling container) is also AE -- assuming that one lives in an area where there is recycling.  In AE, the word "bin" is not typically used to refer to the relatively small containers used for disposing of trash from a private house.  If used at all, it would refer to something larger, like a dumpster.  Thus, "garbage bin" probably isn't used by anyone, as Americans would say "garbage can", and Britons would say "rubbish bin".



What about trash can, same as dumpster? a large container with a hinged lid usually put outside along the street or in the community? What is the term for the small container you keep inside your room or your kitchen?


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## pob14

"Trash can" is the same as "garbage can" in AE - the one you roll to the curb, or the similarly-sized metal or plastic one you find along streets, or even the one in your kitchen.  "Dumpster," described with pictures on Wikipedia, is the great big one found outside businesses and apartment buildings, the one that's the size of a small car.  (It was originally a brand name, by the way.)


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## Johnny519

pob14 said:


> "Trash can" is the same as "garbage can" in AE - the one you roll to the curb, or the similarly-sized metal or plastic one you find along streets, or even the one in your kitchen.  "Dumpster," described with pictures on Wikipedia, is the great big one found outside businesses and apartment buildings, the one that's the size of a small car.  (It was originally a brand name, by the way.)



So you are saying trash can can mean both the container you put inside the house or the one out on the street?


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## pob14

Johnny519 said:


> So you are saying trash can can mean both the container you put inside the house or the one out on the street?


Yes.  Every week, I take the bathroom trash can and the kitchen trash can, empty them into the bigger trash can in the garage, and take it out to the street.  And walking around downtown, I pass several trash cans (not as many as I'd like, though).  

And you can substitute "garbage can" for each of those.  (I generally say "garbage can" myself.)


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## sdgraham

In other words, trash/garbage can  has to do with the intended contents, not where you put it, including, even, when it's resting in a shop for sale.


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## natkretep

Johnny519 said:


> What about trash can, same as dumpster?


And a 'dumpster' (AmE) is a 'skip' (BrE) - which is most certainly not a dustbin or wheelie bin.


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## Mahantongo

Andygc said:


> A "rubbish bin" could be any one of a wide variety of bins, including street litter bins and bins on buses and trains.


 As pob14 noted above, the term "garbage can" (or its synonym "trash can") could also be one of a wide variety of waste receptacles, including those on the street corner and the like, so I miss the point you are making. Why is "garbage can" supposed to be limited to a container for domestic waste, and thus a synonym for "dustbin", rather than a term of broader use and more of an equivalent for "rubbish bin"?


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## JulianStuart

A dustbin is one _specific_ kind of "rubbish bin".


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## Mahantongo

JulianStuart said:


> A dustbin is one _specific_ kind of "rubbish bin".



Which is precisely my point.  A garbage can (or trash can) is not just one specific type of waste receptacle.  If pressed, I  would say instead that, based on the information given above, a dustbin is one specific kind of garbage can.

However, I think that all would agree with the earlier point that no one on either side of the Atlantic would use the odd crossbreed of a term "garbage bin".


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## Andygc

Mahantongo said:


> , so I miss the point you are making. Why is "garbage can" supposed to be limited to a container for domestic waste,


The thread up to that point was specifically discussing what in BE is referred to as dustbin. I have made no comment on AE usage because I prefer to stick to the language I use, rather than telling people what is used in AE. I have supposed nothing. If you want to point out that garbage can has a wider meaning than the BE term dustbin then why not just say so politely?


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## Myridon

natkretep said:


> And a 'dumpster' (AmE) is a 'skip' (BrE) - which is most certainly not a dustbin or wheelie bin.


We also have skips. A skip is larger than a dumpster. A skip may be hauled off by a truck.  Multiple dumpsters are emptied into the same truck which leaves the empty dumpsters behind.   I would also call your "wheelie bin" a dumpster as it is meant to be collected directly by the garbage truck.


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## Mahantongo

Andygc said:


> The thread up to that point was specifically discussing what in BE is referred to as dustbin.


Well, no, not quite. The original question that was asked in 2009 was specifically about the difference between a dustbin and a garbage bin (with my point being that no one would say "garbage bin") and the question asked today by Johnny519 that revived the question was in part specifically about the American usage of the terms "trash cans" and "recycling bins". As trash cans or garbage cans are not just "dustbins", but include a wide variety of refuse containers, I still do not understand why you disagreed with the statement that "'garbage bin'" probably isn't used by anyone, as Americans would say 'garbage can', and Britons would say 'rubbish bin'."



> I have made no comment on AE usage because I prefer to stick to the language I use, rather than telling people what is used in AE.


Your comment did indicate that you considered it incorrect for an AE speaker to describe the term "garbage can" as an equivalent for the broader BE term "rubbish bin".


> If you want to point out that garbage can has a wider meaning than the BE term dustbin then why not just say so politely?


 I thought I had.


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## Andygc

Mahantongo. It looks as though we have crossed wires. The thread topic is about waste containers which fit the BE usage of "dustbin". Johnny519 added a side question which has taken the thread off track into two separate strands. 

In BE a normal question 50 years ago could have been "have you put the dustbin out?" Today it would probably be "have you put the bin out?" because refuse collection has switched in urban and some rural areas to wheelie bins. It would be decidedly odd for the question to be "have you put the rubbish bin out?" I understood from previous posts that the AE equivalent sentence would use "garbage can" or "trash can". Thus it seems that whereas BE normally uses a specific term for a kerb side domestic waste container, AE uses a generic term. That is why, in the context of this thread, I disagreed with your statement that AE "garbage can" has the same meaning as BE "rubbish bin". That's not a comment on American usage, it's a comment on the problem of translating between two divergent varieties of English.

PS. Sorry Johnny519,  I should have said Johnny519's merged compound question added a second strand to this thread.


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## Wordsmyth

Myridon said:


> Multiple dumpsters are emptied into the same truck which leaves the empty dumpsters behind.   I would also call your "wheelie bin" a dumpster as it is meant to be collected directly by the garbage truck.


 I follow your logic (relative to a skip), Myridon, but then by that definition wouldn't every household trash can or garbage can or dustbin that's put out for collection be a dumpster? A google image search for _dumpster_ comes up with nothing smaller than industrial-sized bins, or the communal type used for apartment blocks (at least 4' x 2', and many a lot bigger) — whereas a household wheelie bin is much smaller. Would you call this a dumpster?

I suppose you could say that (like the big ones) it's designed to be lifted and tipped by the truck hoist — but where I live that rarely happens. Unless a bin is exceptionally heavy, the guys just lift it and empty it by hand, because the mechanical hoist takes too long.

Ws


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## Ashraful Haque

I was looking for one of these in a restaurant . I said- "Excuse me where's the trash can"
Was I correct?


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## natkretep

I would say 'bin'. ('Trash can' is an American term, equivalent to 'dustbin' to me, and my impression is that this is normally found outside the house or shop.)


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## GreenWhiteBlue

natkretep said:


> ('Trash can' is an American term, equivalent to 'dustbin' to me, and my impression is that this is normally found outside the house or shop.)



Not necessarily.  All of those items are trash cans, and it is common to have trash cans in (for example) a kitchen.


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## kentix

In that kind of context of a restaurant, I'd probably just say "Is there somewhere I can throw this away?" Then whether it was a trash can, garbage can, waste basket or whatever, you're covered. They might even say, "I can take that for you."


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## natkretep

GreenWhiteBlue said:


> Not necessarily.  All of those items are trash cans, and it is common to have trash cans in (for example) a kitchen.


Fair enough. It's not a term I use.


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## zaffy

Am I right with these?

BE: 1. waste bin, 2. dustbin, 3. wheelie bin/skip, 4. litter bin
AE: 1. trash can/garbage can, 2.   trash can/garbage can, 3. dumpster 4. trash can/garbage can


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## Tegs

This is what I call them: 1. bin 2. wheelie bin 3. maybe “big wheeled bin” or just “very big bin” 4. bin

A skip is a completely different thing, much bigger - the length of a car.


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## natkretep

I can say 'rubbish bin' for all of them. I associate wheelie bins with 2 rather than 3.

_Cross-posted_. My own use is in agreement with Tegs's use.


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## zaffy

natkretep said:


> I can say 'rubbish bin' for all of them.



But if a Briton heard these out of context, I guess they might imagine something different in each case, would they? Does any of these imply something that the others don't? 

1. What shape was the rubbish bin? 
2. What shape was the bin?
3.  What shape was the waste bin?  
4.  What shape was the litter bin?


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## ewie

zaffy said:


> View attachment 55156


BE: 1 ~ _bin_. 2 ~ _bin_. 3 ~ _bin_. 4 ~ _bin_. 

I would only specify the type if I absolutely had to: 1 ~ _waste bin_; 2 ~ _wheelie bin_. 3 ~ _big wheeled bin _or _dumpster_. 4 ~ _litter bin_.


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## zaffy

ewie said:


> I would only specify the type if I absolutely had to: 1 ~ _waste bin_; 2 ~ _wheelie bin_. 3 ~ _big wheeled bin _or _dumpster_. 4 ~ _litter bin_.



What puzzles me is that you didn't mention "dustbin", and this the first and I would say the most common word that non-natives come across in coursebooks. Why? Are we again taught artificial language?


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## natkretep

I don't know whether it's me, but I associate 'dustbin' with a more traditional looking bin.




I'm happy to call a wheelie bin a dustbin, but if you can just say 'bin', why not? I think it's gone a little out of favour. Certainly, I don't hear people talking about a dustman, for instance?


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## ewie

This is a dustbin:



They're rarer than hens' teeth these days. None of the pictures showed a dustbin.

EDIT: Great minds think alike 
And no, the word _dustman_ hasn't been heard since about 1970.


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## entangledbank

Pictures 2 and 3 both have wheels so they are both wheeled bins or wheelie bins. Number 2 is domestic ones, replacing the traditional galvanized dustbins, and number 3 is a commercial one.


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## zaffy

And all those baskets with holes in their walls will never be called bins, won't they?


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## entangledbank

That's a bin to me too. Putting paper in there is throwing it in the bin. But it is (I think) the only kind of bin (for putting rubbish in) that _isn't_ a *rubbish bin*.


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## zaffy

ewie said:


> the word _dustman_ hasn't been heard since about 1970.




They are "rubbish collectors" now. Am I right?


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## ewie

Yep, within the context of the home even wastepaper baskets are _bins_ ~ you really can't live without the word _bin_ in the UK.


zaffy said:


> They are "rubbish collectors" now. Am I right?


Ooh no, they're _household waste removal operatives_ or something catchy like that


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## Wordy McWordface

I agree with entangledbank and ewie. They're all bins.  'Bin' is an all-purpose GB term for anything that you throw waste into.

I'd only say 'wastepaper basket' if I were deliberately trying to distinguish between that and other types of bins.  As a rule, we tend to use the most general word we can [Remember your thread about standard lamps?  They're all lights, and we only say 'standard lamp' or 'anglepoise lamp' or whatever if we particularly need to make a distinction between that and another type of light.  The same goes for bins].



zaffy said:


> They are "rubbish collectors" now. Am I right?



No. 'Rubbish collector' sounds like an odd mixture of informal and formal.

Informally, we say 'binmen'.  A more official term might be 'refuse collector' or (even more official-sounding) 'waste operative'.


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## Roxxxannne

1. Garbage pail, since it appears to have no lid.
2. Recycling can with wheels or trash can with wheels.   The City of Chicago calls them carts. I think I've heard actual Chicagoans call them cans.  The Sanitation Department in New York calls wheeled things like this that you put compostable stuff in 'compost bins.'  I don;t have a word for them that would distinguish them from the traditional wheel-less garbage can or trash can, which is circular in cross section and has a lid.  The archaic garbage can or trash can of the Pre-plastic Era (40-50 years ago?) looks like the ones in #34 and #35, with a slightly different lid.
3.  Small wheeled dumpster.  
4.  Trash can or garbage can.


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## zaffy

Roxxxannne said:


> 1. *Garbage* pail, since it appears to have no lid.



So speaking of the equivalent of BE 'rubbish' at home, do you prefer 'garbage' rather than 'trash'?


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## ewie

See:
junk vs trash vs garbage 
and
garbage or trash 
inter alia


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## Roxxxannne

I don't know the definition of BE rubbish, but to me garbage rots and becomes smelly fairly quickly: banana peels, apple cores, old stale pieces of pizza, chicken bones, coffee grounds, etc.  Trash doesn't decay as quickly, if at all: paper, cardboard, cans (washed before throwing out), plastic crap, disposable face masks, bits of wire, small broken power tools and appliances, rags, broken dishes, etc.
Since the object in 1) is lined with a plastic bag, I assume it contains garbage rather than trash.

EDITED: Having read the first of the threads that ewie cites, I see that my distinguishing garbage and trash is in line with my geographical origin.


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## zaffy

Roxxxannne said:


> I don't know the definition of BE rubbish, but to me garbage rots and becomes smelly fairly quickly: banana peels, apple cores, old stale pieces of pizza, chicken bones, coffee grounds, etc. Trash doesn't decay as quickly, if at all: paper, cardboard, cans (washed before throwing out), plastic crap, disposable face masks, bits of wire, small broken power tools and appliances, rags, broken dishes, etc.



And BE doesn't distinguish between those. Am I right? This is all rubbish.


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## ewie

Why don't you ask that question in one of the threads I mentioned in #44, Zaffy, given that this thread is about the receptacles not the contents?


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## zaffy

Roxxxannne said:


> I don't know the definition of BE rubbish, but to me garbage rots and becomes smelly fairly quickly: banana peels, apple cores, old stale pieces of pizza, chicken bones, coffee grounds, etc. Trash doesn't decay as quickly, if at all: paper, cardboard, cans



So being at home, we might throw bad cheese in the garbage and a broken toy in the trash can. Is that right in AE?


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## ewie

Roxxxannne said:


> garbage rots and becomes smelly fairly quickly: banana peels, apple cores, old stale pieces of pizza, chicken bones, coffee grounds, etc.


I call that _(kitchen) waste_ or _stuff for the compost._


Roxxxannne said:


> Trash doesn't decay as quickly, if at all: paper, cardboard, cans (washed before throwing out), plastic crap, disposable face masks, bits of wire, [...], rags, broken dishes, etc.


And that would be _rubbish_ or (in Best Behaviour Mode) _household waste._


Roxxxannne said:


> small broken power tools and appliances


_Junk._


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## zaffy

And do you prefer 'throw' or 'put' with a bin? 

_Throw /Put that ugly cheese in the bin!  _


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## Roxxxannne

zaffy said:


> So being at home, we might throw bad cheese in the garbage and a broken toy in the trash can. Is that right in AE?


Yes, if my choices are garbage and trash, rather than junk, recycling, or compost.


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## zaffy

And what would you call these? 

AE: Recycling trash cans
BE: Recycling bins


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## Roxxxannne

Trash doesn't get recycled, so I'd call them recycling bins.


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## zaffy

Roxxxannne said:


> Trash doesn't get recycled, so I'd call them recycling bins.


Interesting, I thought bin was used in BE only.


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## Wordy McWordface

zaffy said:


> And do you prefer 'throw' or 'put' with a bin?
> 
> _Throw /Put that ugly cheese in the bin!  _


'Put' if you do it carefully.  For example, if the cheese is so "ugly"  that it's falling apart and oozing noxious slime, you'd *put* it in the bin (carefully).

If it isn't, you could *throw, toss, chuck, sling, fling* or *bung* it in the bin. We have plenty of words at our, shall we say, 'disposal'.


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## Roxxxannne

zaffy said:


> Interesting, I thought bin was used in BE only.


To be specific, the three on the left are what I would describe as 'tall wastebaskets with lids for recycling.' In post #42 I mentioned that the Sanitation Department in NYC calls the wheeled containers for compostable material "composting bins."  So since 'bin' doesn't necessarily mean 'wheeled thing,' I assume that the non-wheeled kind used for other recyclable material can also be bins.


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## kentix

We use the word bin, we just don't have an unhealthy obsession with it.  





These are parts bins, for holding small objects like parts of machines or any other items, really, that you need to keep a handy supply of.

I have also definitely heard people referring to throwing something in "the garbage bin". We also often "toss" things there.

For some reason it is very commonly used in recycling contexts. You might have a recycling bin next to your garbage can.

So bin has various common uses in American English. We just don't use it for everything. And we don't generally "bin" things.


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## zaffy

This Canadian used 'bin', so looks like CE uses the BE version in this respect, right?


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## Ashraful Haque

natkretep said:


> I don't know whether it's me, but I associate 'dustbin' with a more traditional looking bin.
> View attachment 55177
> 
> I'm happy to call a wheelie bin a dustbin, but if you can just say 'bin', why not? I think it's gone a little out of favour. Certainly, I don't hear people talking about a dustman, for instance?


How wrong would I be to call something like this 'a trashcan'?


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## heypresto

zaffy said:


> And do you prefer 'throw' or 'put' with a bin?



Either. They both work and both mean the same. You might also hear 'toss'.


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## zaffy

One day I was told "into" didn't sound natural with bins/gabrage cans. And this coursebook teaches it. Is that wrong?


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## ewie

_chuck it in the bin 
chuck it into the bin_ ~ not wrong, but much less likely
_chuck it out into the bin_


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## natkretep

Ashraful Haque said:


> How wrong would I be to call something like this 'a trashcan'?


Clearly not wrong in itself. It's a word I hear and understand but not one I use because it doesn't belong to my English variety.


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## zaffy

ewie said:


> _chuck it out into the bin_



So there are two mistakes, that is, with the 'out' and the 'into', aren't there?


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## kentix

Yes, it's very awkward.


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## merquiades

I use "bin" for something more formal and also nice looking and clean, maybe also made out of plastic and rectangular. Also bin for something specific that only receives a certain type of "materials".  "Bin" also can sound like something bigger.
"Can" is less specific and general, and can be circular and steel with a round top, but not only that.....  So many things can be a "can".  I guess it never sounds really wrong.
"Wastebasket" is small and for paper (in theory), in offices and bathrooms.  I wouldn't put anything liquid or disgusting in there.

My favorite word is "garbage".  Personally it sounds nicer to me than "trash".  I make no difference between them, but I'm not a "trash" person.  Maybe I have been influenced by the fact "trash" can be an insult for a person too.

It can also be a matter of word collocations.  I only say "garbage can", but only "recycling bin"  With "trash" both "bin" and "can" sounds fine.
Of all the words used in the thread I'd understand all of them except "dust bin".  If I heard it, I'd take it literally, and think it had something to do with a vacuum cleaner or fireplace.


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## natkretep

merquiades said:


> Of all the words used in the thread I'd understand all of them except "dust bin".  If I heard it, I'd take it literally, and think it had something to do with a vacuum cleaner or fireplace.


Remember that 'dustbin' is one word though, and pronounced with stress on the first syllable. It's a compound that we don't quite analyse now, like _cupboard_.


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## zaffy

A Briton called this a skip. AE would call these dumpsters, wouldn't they?


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## merquiades

Dumpster or large metal bin to be precise.  Skip would not be understood in the US.


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## zaffy

So this is how these work in BE and AE. Am I right?

AE: I need to rent a dumpster. 
BE: I need to hire a skip.


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## You little ripper!

_I need to hire a skip (bin) is what we say _in this part of the world, in case you're interested.


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## natkretep

Yes, we say skip here. Have a look at this thread for more on 'skip' and 'dumpster': Dumpster, skip, trash bin, scavenging

However, beware: all skips are dumpsters, but not all dumpsters are skips! A dumpster can also be a large wheelie bin.


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## JulianStuart

natkretep said:


> Yes, we say skip here. Have a look at this thread for more on 'skip' and 'dumpster': Dumpster, skip, trash bin, scavenging
> 
> However, beware: all skips are dumpsters, but not all dumpsters are skips! A dumpster can also be a large wheelie bin.


While some of the smaller (US) dumpsters have wheels,  the big ones, just like the bins in #57, range in size quite considerably.  The biggest is ~7 m x ~2.5 m x ~2.5 m (23 ft x 8 ft x 8 ft)
.


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## merquiades

zaffy said:


> So this is how these work in BE and AE. Am I right?
> 
> AE: I need to rent a dumpster.
> BE: I need to hire a skip.


I need to rent a dumpster,  if that's actually possible.....  What are you going to do with a dumpster?   

Edit: Anyway there are thousands of sites to rent out dumpsters.


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## kentix

I have never seen a dumpster like that in the U.S. My first reaction was, "What the hell is that?" It looks like a boat.


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## merquiades

A 20 yard long dumpster is kind of bizarre, but that might be because I have no habit of seeing that much garbage...

It looks like one of those containers you put onto a ship.

"Normally" dumpsters are huge compared to a large garbage bin,  but nowhere near 20 yards long.  I'd say they are the size of a small car.


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## You little ripper!

JulianStuart said:


> While some of the smaller (US) dumpsters have wheels,  the big ones, just like the bins in #57, range in size quite considerably.  The biggest is ~7 m x ~2.5 m x ~2.5 m (23 ft x 8 ft x 8 ft)
> .View attachment 55415
> View attachment 55416


That's what we call a 'shipping container' here, Julian. There used to be a vintage clothing store across the road from me that used a couple of those to store clothing in.


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## kentix

A dumpster is a waste container that is designed to be serviced by a truck. If it's small enough for you to push around easily and it's not serviced by a specialized truck I would not call it a dumpster.

There are two main kinds. The ones that sit behind restaurants and other stores have lids and normal garbage/trash/refuse is put there. They are usually emptied once a week (on a contract) by a truck that comes around and lifts them up with special arms, turns them upside down and pours the contents in the back of the truck. Then it puts the dumpster back down in its place. It only takes a couple of minutes. This is the equivalent of garbage pickup at a home.

The other main kind is long but not wide, is open-topped with no lid(s), has metal rollers, not wheels, and is used mostly at construction sites for hauling away construction and demolition debris. It is often called a construction dumpster. It doesn't get emptied, it gets hauled away on the back of a special truck. And it's not on a schedule. It gets hauled away when it's full. I think that would be the primary equivalent of a skip.

Garbage dumpsters





Construction dumpster





If it's not hauled away or emptied like this, I wouldn't call it a dumpster.


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## Roxxxannne

merquiades said:


> I need to rent a dumpster,  if that's actually possible.....  What are you going to do with a dumpster?


If you are tossing stuff your deceased parents have accumulated over the years, they save a lot of trouble. On a happier note, contractors use them for bulk waste from house construction and renovation.


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## kentix

My sister rented one when my parents moved out of their house.


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## JulianStuart

You little ripper! said:


> That's what we call a 'shipping container' here, Julian. There used to be a vintage clothing store across the road from me that used a couple of those to store clothing in.


There is no lid on top, so you can "dump" stuff in by throwing it up over the walls or by walking in and just dropping it (it has doors that open so you can walk in).  It is not a shipping container and the biggest dimension is 23' (23 feet 7 ⅔ yds or ~7m).  Construction dumpsters are often positioned below a chute that comes down the outside of the building, so workers can "dump" stuff into the chute at the top and it will eventually land in the _dump_ster.


merquiades said:


> A 20 yard long dumpster is kind of bizarre, but that might be because I have no habit of seeing that much garbage...


I've never seen a 20 YARD long dumpster, either, and the pictures don't show one. We rented a "20 YARD" (11 feet long and 6 feet high) one, like in the first picture (In AE terms that means 20 cubic yards) when we had to clear out of the home we had lived in for 25 years (and we filled it to the brim  ).  In our part of the world these are called dumpsters.  They are delivered and removed by a special truck and they have wheels at one end to help it roll on and off that truck.


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## kentix

Yes, 20 yards is the cubic volume. Construction materials are often measured in yards - square or cubic. Concrete is measured in yards (cubic).


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## JulianStuart

kentix said:


> If it's not hauled away or emptied like this, I wouldn't call it a dumpster.
> 
> View attachment 55423


Everything in your post I agree with but I'll add the clarification that _construction_ dumpsters are delivered and picked jup by one of these (called a dumpster truck by the company) with a winch and rollers etc.


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## kentix

That's hauled away. That's what I meant.



kentix said:


> It doesn't get emptied, it gets hauled away on the back of a special truck.


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## You little ripper!

JulianStuart said:


> There is no lid on top, so you can "dump" stuff in by throwing it up over the walls or by walking in and just dropping it (it has doors that open so you can walk in).  It is not a shipping container and the biggest dimension is 23' (23 feet 7 ⅔ yds or ~7m).  Construction dumpsters are often positioned below a chute that comes down the outside of the building, so workers can "dump" stuff into the chute at the top and it will eventually land in the _dump_ster.


It's difficult to see from that diagram that it doesn't have a lid.


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## JulianStuart

You little ripper! said:


> It's difficult to see from that diagram that it doesn't have a lid.


As we say, context and logic:  Your mistaking it for a container just highlights how big they get.


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## jack477

[This question has been added to a previous existing thread.  DonnyB - moderator]

whats diffrent "trash can "&"trash"&"garbage"
how use it .
Thanks.


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## Adam Warren

I grew up in a "bilingual" household, my mother being Canadian, my father British. "Rubbish", "rubbish bin" and "dustbin" are definitely British, but my mother used "garbage" and "garbage can". Curiously, the North American "trash" and "trash can" in this usage were absent from our household's parlance, and "trash" in our usage referred to the tawdrier stalls of street markets, or figuratively, to misguided opinions or rubbishy films or works.


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## PaulQ

zaffy said:


> And do you prefer 'throw' or 'put' with a bin?


You should understand that *to throw* and *to put* are two distinct verbs, each with its own meaning.


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## mgeisehoff

tepatria said:


> In BE it is a dust bin. Here in my area we call it a garbage can. I don't know about a garbage bin.


I agree.  In my area of the U.S. it is called a garbage can.


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## london calling

zaffy said:


> And all those baskets with holes in their walls will never be called bins, won't they?
> 
> View attachment 55182


Wastepaper bin/basket, in my parlance.


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