# wheelie bin/can



## 99bottles

_I opened the *wheelie bin/wheelie can*._

What is this called? I have a feeling it's called wheelie bin in BE and wheelie can in AE, but I've also found countless other names: rubbish bin, trash bin, trash can, waste container etc. My head hurts. Any help?


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## Keith Bradford

It's one of many forms of waste container.  The everyday name in Britain is certainly wheelie bin, whether inside a factory or outside a house (though the domestic forms are usually smaller, with only two wheels):


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## kentix

There is no universal consensus. I have never even seen the one you show in the U.S.


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## JulianStuart

99bottles said:


> _I opened the *wheelie bin/wheelie can*._
> 
> What is this called? I have a feeling it's called wheelie bin in BE and wheelie can in AE, but I've also found countless other names: rubbish bin, trash bin, trash can, waste container etc. My head hurts. Any help?
> 
> View attachment 68965


Have you decided on which "English" you are using in your writing?  AE or BE?


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## Loob

I wouldn't call it a "wheelie bin" - that, to me, means something like Keith's picture in post 2.

I'm not sure what I'd call it. A "waste container"?


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## elroy

To me, it looks like a dumpster on wheels.  I don't know that I've ever seen one.


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## 99bottles

JulianStuart said:


> Have you decided on which "English" you are using in your writing?  AE or BE?


Tell me about both cases.


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## Myridon

kentix said:


> There is no universal consensus. I have never even seen the one you show in the U.S.


True.  I'm pretty sure no one in the US uses the word "wheelie" to describe them though.  In the city where my parents used to live, they had them but only for houses that didn't have an alley.  I checked the city's "waste management" page and they call them "trash carts".  You roll them out to the street and a special truck comes along and lifts them up and dumps the contents into the truck.


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## JulianStuart

99bottles said:


> Tell me about both cases.


That's not how the forum works.  There are many threads on a range of topics in which the two differ in meaning or usage.  Look up garbage/trash/rubbish for example  You MUST decide which to use and stick to it. The Harry Potter books were "translated" from BE into AE for the benefit of (some) AE readers. Wikipedia has some information Comparison of American and British English - Wikipedia and (incomplete) lists of words that differ.


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## kentix

Some people call those a Herby Curby because that's one of the brands. I've also heard it called a wheelie bin. We have one here for recycling but we don't call it anything. We just "put the recycling out".






99, there are some very long previous threads on all the various types of trash containers and the various names for them. Search for dumpster, skip, trash can, rubbish bin, etc. in the forum search function. The bottom line is that they are called different things in different places by different people, even within the same country. And they differ from place to place in form. As I said, the one you showed is not a configuration I have seen before. I'm not sure what I'd call it.


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## 99bottles

JulianStuart said:


> That's not how the forum works.  There are many threads on a range of topics in which the two differ in meaning or usage.  Look up garbage/trash/rubbish for example  You MUST decide which to use and stick to it. The Harry Potter books were "translated" from BE into AE for the benefit of (some) AE readers. Wikipedia has some information Comparison of American and British English - Wikipedia and (incomplete) lists of words that differ.


OK, tell me what you would call in AE the thing depicted in the OP. Is this kind of container even known to Americans? Post #3 says he/she has never seen one.


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## kentix

I haven't seen one exactly like that.


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## 99bottles

kentix said:


> I haven't seen one exactly like that.


What would you call it?


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## JulianStuart

99bottles said:


> OK, tell me what you would call in AE the thing depicted in the OP. Is this kind of container even known to Americans? Post #3 says he/she has never seen one.


If someone showed you an object you had never seen before, and asked you what your name for it was, how would you react?   Does it hold trash, garbage or rubbish?


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## 99bottles

JulianStuart said:


> If someone showed you an object you had never seen before, and asked you what your name for it was, how would you react?   Does it hold trash, garbage or rubbish?


I thought _rubbish_ was the BE version of _trash_ and _garbage_, which are synonymous.

Edit: How about _a wheelie trash can _or a_ wheelie trash container?_


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## JulianStuart

99bottles said:


> I thought _rubbish_ was the BE version of _trash_ and _garbage_, which are synonymous.


It's not quite that simple.  Some AE speakers distinguish between trash and garbage but only _in some contexts _

Dust bin VS Garbage bin [dustbin, garbage can, trash can]
garbage or trash
garbage/trash/rubbish/bin bags, bin liners
junk vs trash vs garbage


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## 99bottles

JulianStuart said:


> It's not quite that simple.  Some AE speakers distinguish between trash and garbage but only _in some contexts _
> 
> Dust bin VS Garbage bin [dustbin, garbage can, trash can]
> garbage or trash
> garbage/trash/rubbish/bin bags, bin liners
> junk vs trash vs garbage


Thanks. And now that we've sorted this out, all that is left to do is decide what the thing that contains that stuff is called. 

Let's say that what I showed in the picture in the OP contains both trash and garbage.

Would _a wheelie trash/garbage can_ be understandable by an American?


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## PaulQ

99bottles said:


> Would _a wheelie trash/garbage can_ be understandable by an American?


If you read the answers, you are the only one who calls this a "can".


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## kentix

No it's not a can. To me, in American English, it resembles an unusually small dumpster with unusually large wheels. As I said, it's not a form I've seen before. This is a more standard American dumpster.


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## 99bottles

kentix said:


> No it's not a can. To me, in American English, it resembles an unusually small dumpster with unusually large wheels. As I said, it's not a form I've seen before. This is a more standard American dumpster.
> 
> View attachment 68969


I could just say _a wheelie dumpster_. The thing is, in the scene I'm trying to describe, a bear pushes it down. But I'm wondering: Is even a bear strong enough to push down something as large as the thing you depict? I don't want to write something implausible. That's why what I have in mind is what I depicted in the OP, which is, as it seems, too large to be called a wheelie bin and too small to be called a dumpster. Oh, boy! 

Edit: How about _wheelie container_?


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## SwissPete

Adding to the confusion:   

In American English, what this person does is a _wheelie_.


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## RM1(SS)

I would call the thing in #11 a wheelie bin.  (They come in two colours in my town -- green for trash & garbage, and blue for recycling.)

I suppose I would call the OP's item a "wheel*ed* bin", if I ever saw one.


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## 99bottles

RM1(SS) said:


> I would call the thing in #11 a wheelie bin.  (They come in two colours in my town -- green for trash & garbage, and blue for recycling.)
> 
> I suppose I would call the OP's item a "wheel*ed* bin", if I ever saw one.


If I got it right: the ones with two wheels are wheelie bins, whereas the ones with four wheels are wheeled bins. Right?


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## abluter

I've seen those (original post) in Greece, but I think nowhere else.  I'd call it a bin on wheels, or a wheeled bin.


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## Szkot

The four-wheeled bins shown in the original post can be seen by road-sides in tenement areas in Scottish towns.  Officially they are known as communal bins but as the users don't move them around, to them they are just bins.


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## 99bottles

Szkot said:


> The four-wheeled bins shown in the original post can be seen by road-sides in tenement areas in Scottish towns.  Officially they are known as communal bins but as the users don't move them around, to them they are just bins.


So, all in all, does this sound good?

_A gray, metal 1100-liter four-wheeled trash bin._


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## natkretep

I'd just say a large bin, or if necessary a large wheelie bin. This company calls it a 1100 litre wheelie bin: Green 1100 Litre Wheelie Bins


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## Wordy McWordface

99bottles said:


> So, all in all, does this sound good?
> 
> _A gray, metal 1100-liter four-wheeled trash bin._


That looks like you're on the right track - until the last word. You might want to wait for an AmE speaker to give you their view on the term for the receptacle itself. As far as I know, AmE doesn't use 'bin' for waste disposal containers.


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## Andygc

99bottles said:


> _I opened the *wheelie bin/wheelie can*._
> 
> What is this called?


BE
It's a "wheeled bin". They are very common around small to medium industrial premises, but usually made of plastic these days. Places such as restaurants, garages and boatyards use them and they are provided by contract waste disposal companies.

In the news in the UK at present.
Corrie Mckeague: Wrong bin weight recorded in missing airman search


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## Keith Bradford

Szkot said:


> ...Officially they are known as communal bins but as the users don't move them around, to them they are just bins.


Our hamlet of six houses had one for communal use until about 25 years ago.  Now we have two smaller ones for each household (one for rubbish and one for recycling).  Householders wheel their bin to the crossroads every Wednesday, so the refuse collectors have less weight to trundle around.  I'd call it a *communal/commercial/industrial wheelie bin*, and wouldn't be at all surprised to see it at the rear of a restaurant or small workshop.


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## kentix

99bottles said:


> A gray, metal 1100-liter four-wheeled trash bin.





natkretep said:


> I'd just say a large bin, or if necessary a large wheelie bin. This company calls it a 1100 litre wheelie bin: Green 1100 Litre Wheelie Bins


I agree with natkretep that it seems like an overly specific technical description. Is all that information necessary to the story? Is it all necessary to cram into one sentence? It seems more like a product description in a catalog than a natural way to describe an object in a story.

"John rounded the corner and came upon a gray, metal 1100-liter four-wheeled trash bin." 

It seems awkward.


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## 99bottles

Wordy McWordface said:


> That looks like you're on the right track - until the last word. You might want to wait for an AmE speaker to give you their view on the term for the receptacle itself. As far as I know, AmE doesn't use 'bin' for waste disposal containers.


Should I keep the rest as it is and replace _bin_ with _can_ or _container_?


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## 2 Cents

In Florida, we have trash bins and recycling bins like the green one pictured in the thread. The trash bin is usually larger and a different color. They are supposed to be parked on the curb on specific days. I can't tell you about other parts of the US.


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## RM1(SS)

99bottles said:


> Should I keep the rest as it is and replace _bin_ with _can_ or _container_?


"...an oversized metal trash cart."


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## Welsh_Sion

SwissPete said:


> Adding to the confusion:
> 
> In American English, what this person does is a _wheelie_.
> View attachment 68989


UKers use it too - but I guess it crossed the Atlantic to land here. (Although, Mrs W_S, who hails from |Oxford says she's never heard it and refers to it as 'riding bronco'. Something I've never heard.)


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## 99bottles

RM1(SS) said:


> "...an oversized metal trash cart."


How about _a small dumpster_ or _a 2-yard dumpster_?


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## heypresto

Who are you writing this primarily for? AE speakers or BE speakers?


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## london calling

abluter said:


> I've seen those (original post) in Greece, but I think nowhere else.  I'd call it a bin on wheels, or a wheeled bin.


We have the exact same ones here in Italy. I'd call it a bin on wheels if I were to refer to it in English (that doesn't happen often). 

To me a wheelie bin is the one in Keith's photo above.


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## 99bottles

heypresto said:


> Who are you writing this primarily for? AE speakers or BE speakers?


Dunno. For whoever buys it when I have self-published it.


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## Welsh_Sion

Dunno. For whoever buys it when I have self-published it. 

________

Good luck with your venture. I would suggest however that you don't mix forms. Choose one or the other - not both. (Or any other form of English.)


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## JulianStuart

Welsh_Sion said:


> Dunno. For whoever buys it when I have self-published it.
> 
> ________
> 
> Good luck with your venture. I would suggest however that you don't mix forms. Choose one or the other - not both. (Or any other form of English.)


See #4 above


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## 99bottles

JulianStuart said:


> See #4 above


I'll open later, on the Language Lab section, a thread titled "What English I use." For the time being, could you please just tell me how my last choice (#36) sounds in your BE or AE ear?


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## london calling

99bottles said:


> I'll open later, on the Language Lab section, a thread titled "What English I use." For the time being, could you please just tell me how my last choice (#36) sounds in your BE or AE ear?


We don't use dumpster but we'd understand it (well, some might not, I suppose).


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## Welsh_Sion

Heypresto asked the same Q in No.37.

We'll let the author speak for himself.


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## JulianStuart

99bottles said:


> I'll open later, on the Language Lab section, a thread titled "What English I use." For the time being, could you please just tell me how my last choice (#36) sounds in your BE or AE ear?


Dumpster is mainly AE 
More discussion here
Dumpster, skip, trash bin, scavenging
Once you have decided on AE or BE, we can help more. As has often been suggested, pick one and be consistent.


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## 99bottles

JulianStuart said:


> Dumpster is mainly AE
> More discussion here
> Dumpster, skip, trash bin, scavenging
> Once you have decided on AE or BE, we can help more. As has often been suggested, pick one and be consistent.


Supposing I have decided on AE, is #36 correct/natural?


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## JulianStuart

99bottles said:


> Supposing I have decided on AE, is #36 correct/natural?


Small dumpster sounds fine. That is something bear could push down over.


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## 99bottles

JulianStuart said:


> 1. Small dumpster sounds fine. 2. That is something bear could push down over.


1. Is a 2-yard dumpster too heavy for a bear to push?

2. Why is _push down_ wrong?


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## JulianStuart

99bottles said:


> 1. Is a 2-yard dumpster to too heavy for a bear to push?
> 
> 2. Why is _push down_ wrong?


1. Bears are quite strong.  Why specify a 2-yard dumpster?  Will your readers need to know the exact size?
2. English.


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## Roxxxannne

elroy said:


> To me, it looks like a dumpster on wheels.  I don't know that I've ever seen one.


Hmm.  I've seen things like the one in #2 in Chicago, for household recycling and trash.


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## Roxxxannne

I've seen things like the item in the OP, but maybe half again as big, in Manhattan for construction debris on relatively small jobs.


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## spilorrific

East Coast AE here: Trash = Garbage (although if pressed, I think "trash" can be more paper-oriented while "garbage" conjures a thought of stench). "Rubbish" seems a British word to me. I rarely hear it in daily conversations. 

I've never seen the object that was first pictured. The subsequent images I would call "recycling bins" or "recycling containers." 

To be perfectly honest, I glanced at the first image and thought it was a laundry bin -- the sort that hotels and the like use to collect large amounts of linens.  It's the type that someone hides in to elude police and manage to exit a hotel in a detective caper. But upon further inspection, I saw that I had looked too fast and realized it was a trash container. 

I'm late to the party and you've all hashed this out nicely by now. Teaching in a pandemic year is grueling. Not a lot of time for WR, I'm afraid.


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