Re: [YAEUT] Lexical variation survey

Noelle Morris wrote:
>>> In the US at least, garbage seems to refer to kitchen remnants, trash to
> anything else; I (we?) don't seem to use rubbish in that sense at all.  The
> big outdoor container (that the Trash Fairy empties every week) used to be
> the _garbage can__ and was actually made of metal; now it's a huge plastic
> thing, which I call simply "The Garbage" (as "Let's take this out to The
> Garbage"). Sometimes called [gar'baZ].<<
>
> I don't know if I'd make that distinction; to me, "garbage" and "trash" are
> pretty much synonyms, and mean anything you want to throw away. In fact,
> I've quite frequently made reference to "kitchen trash".
I can see that distinction -- "garbage" is what goes down the "garbage
disposal", "trash" goes in the "trash can" (or "trash bin"). But the
truck that picks it up is definitely a "garbage truck". "Junk" is also
something useless to be thrown away, especially ads in the mail or
useful things that have worn out. "Rubbish" on the other hand is just
"nonsense".

Reply