what is the most popular word for a bin where you throw away rubbish?

[mrwroc]

What is the most popular word for a bin where you throw away rubbish?

John threw the apple core into...... ?

bin
wastepaper basket
wastebasket
waste-basket
litter basket
waste bin
wastebin
dustbin
trash can
waste-paper basket
trashcan
trash
trash bin
garbage bin

Please help, because I would like to learn only one

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

It depends on what you're talking about. Those are not all the same thing.

Why do you just want to learn just one word? That won't help you in the English-speaking world.

I usually use wastebasket or garbage can.

I suggest you take five minutes to look up all of your list, then ask us whatever questions you still have.

 

[mrwroc]

I would like to use only one word because I don't want to wonder which term I should use. Can I simply use "bin"? For example:

- Excuse me, where is the bin?
- John threw the apple core into the bin.

 

[GoesStation]

I would like to use only one word because I don't want to wonder which term I should use. Can I simply use "bin"? For example:

- Excuse me, where is the bin?
- John threw the apple core into the bin.

Those work in British English. Americans rarely use them. Nor do we use rubbish.

 

[Rover_KE]

There's no single answer to your question. It depends where you are—in the bathroom, in the street, in your office, and as GS says, in the UK, in the USA, etc.

 

[mrwroc]

One single item and so many problems. :-D

OK, so what is the most popular name for a container where you throw away rubbish in a house / office / hotel in BE and AE?

 

[GoesStation]

In the United States it's a wastebasket when it's inside and a trashcan or garbage can outside. I just remembered the outside container was an ashcan to my New York City-raised father when I was little.

 

[mrwroc]

I found here:
https://britishenglishonline.com/br...-english/british-english-vs-american-english/

1. Dustbin or Bin (Br) vs Garbage can or Trash can (Am). A container that you use for putting rubbish in. A dustbin is usually kept outside the house and a bin is used inside.

So it is "a bin" in BE and "a trash can" in AE. A little bit strange, because GoesStation said he uses "a trash can" for a bin outside.

 

[GoesStation]

It's common in American English to throw something in the trash. That encompasses indoor or outdoor receptacles.

The huge rectangular containers used at commercial sites are dumpsters to us. I think they're skips in British English, but don't quote me on that.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I would like to use only one word because I don't want to wonder which term I should use. Can I simply use "bin"?

Not in the US. Here, bins are for storage or recycling, not for garbage.

For example:

- Excuse me, where is the bin?
- John threw the apple core into the bin.

Goes is right. In the US, the trash is probably the best you can do.

Trash is not countable. Use the article the when you're talking about a recepticle:

- I threw it in the trash.

- I hate this sandwich. Where's the trash?

- We take out the trash on Wednesdays.

 

[Skrej]

Terms will vary in different parts of the US as well, so you're not going to even be able to say "use X in BrE and Y in AmE."

I call the smaller-sized ones inside my house 'trash cans' as well. Few people around my part of the US use 'wastebasket', but you do occasionally hear 'wastepaper basket' for the smallest sized ones in my region.

To me, 'trash can' would the be most generic term in AmE. At least for me, it works for anything from the small 1 gallon sizes next to your toilet or bed, all the way up to the 55 gallon exterior sizes, and everything in between. Only when you get up to 'dumpsters' do you really have to worry about a different term.

As has already been mentioned, in the US we often don't refer directly to the container anyway, and just speak of putting/throwing something in the 'trash'.