Do you have a garbage?

[Gary "Wombat" Robson]

In the last few years, a new phrase has sprung up seemingly out of nowhere: "Do you have a garbage?"

I hear this in my bookstore, and my first thought is always, "Yeah - I have plenty of garbage. It's in that can over there." I don't actually say that, but I still think it.

When did you first hear this construct: dropping the word "can" or "bag"?

[Hal Briston]

When I read the title, my immediate thought was that it was ridiculous phrase -- no one would ever say that...

But when I think about it, I can't pin down the problem. After all, if you asked me where you could toss out that apple core, I'd say "Over there, in the garbage". I think it's the "a" that's throwing things off.

[NinetyWt]

A more common way for me to hear this in ordinary conversation is a guest kid asking "Hey, where's the garbage?" so that they can throw something away. A couple of them may have asked "Do you have a garbage?" instead, but I don't remember.

[Claire Beauchamp]

I wonder if it's a construction based on lolspeak -- i.e., "I haz a flavor," "I haz a money," etc.

Re: the problem in pinning down why it sounds odd. I have the same issue with some US vs. UK constructions. For example, we "go to the hospital" but in the UK they "go to hospital." Why the two constructions exist and why the latter sounds odd to me is a poser.

[Gary "Wombat" Robson]

I've heard "where's the garbage?" and "where should I put my garbage" and all kinds of other phrases for many years. This new "a garbage" to mean "a garbage receptacle" has been going on for a year or more, and it still sounds very wrong to me.

[Lumpy]

"A garbage" sounds like slang for a garage that's too full of junk to park your car in. Pronounced "gar-BAGE".

[Harmonious Discord]

I've heard that way for decades. It's not new for me.

[Antigen]

I've heard that way for decades. It's not new for me.

Same here.

[River Hippie]

I still haven't gotten used to "Do you want to go with?" Is it that much more effort to throw the me, us or whatever on the end of that sentence?

[Elendil's Heir]

If I was in an unfamiliar kitchen I might ask the owner either "Where's your garbage?" or "Where's the garbage?" if I had, say, an apple core in my hand and wanted to throw it away. Referring to the trashcan as "a garbage" sounds weird to me; don't think I've ever heard that before.

[BigT]

I still haven't gotten used to "Do you want to go with?" Is it that much more effort to throw the me, us or whatever on the end of that sentence?

I've always heard it as "cumwith". And, yes, it's one word. There's no other reason to pronounce it that way.

[elfkin477]

When did you first hear this construct: dropping the word "can" or "bag"? This thread.

On the other hand, River Hippie's example of "come with" is something we said in college fairly often.

[Paintcharge]

It's shorthand for "Do you have a garbage can that is available to the public?"

[Shot From Guns]

I've never heard "a garbage."

[Teacake]

I wonder if it's a construction based on lolspeak -- i.e., "I haz a flavor," "I haz a money," etc.

Re: the problem in pinning down why it sounds odd. I have the same issue with some US vs. UK constructions. For example, we "go to the hospital" but in the UK they "go to hospital." Why the two constructions exist and why the latter sounds odd to me is a poser.

"I need to go to hospital" indicates a need to go to any hospital, not important which one.
"I need to go to the hospital" indicates that there is a particular hospital to which one needs to go, say for an appointment or because it's where you work.
It's not that we don't say the second one, it's that it's more specific than the general concept of medical care conveyed by the first.

"A garbage"? Never heard it, and I work with teenagers who are very keen on the latest Americanisms.

[obfusciatrist]

Grew up in Washington State, lived in Hawaii, lived in San Francisco area.

Never heard "a garbage" when asking if there is a garbage can somewhere.

[horsetech]

"A garbage" sounds like slang for a garage that's too full of junk to park your car in. Pronounced "gar-BAGE".

I like this definition. I don't have a garBAGE, but there is a shid in the back yard (a shed full of sh*t).

[AskNott]

Jonathan Winters did some ads for a brand-name trash bag. He played a classy refuse collector, and he said, "we men of gar-BAZHE."

I have never heard anyone use it to describe the container, but rather the stuff inside. "Pick up your socks, or I'll t'row 'em inna gobbich!"

[Jelymag]

I've never heard "a garbage." But now tht I've read this thread, I will probably hear it everywhere...

[Charger]

Would it be more appropriate to say, "do you have a 'the garbage?'"

[Left Hand of Dorkness]

But when I think about it, I can't pin down the problem. After all, if you asked me where you could toss out that apple core, I'd say "Over there, in the garbage". I think it's the "a" that's throwing things off.
Yep. "Garbage" is an uncountable noun (http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/nouns-un-countable_2.htm), like "milk" or "water." So you might say, "Where's the milk?" or "Where's the water?" But you'd never say, "Where's a milk?" or "Where's a water?"

"Garbage can" is a countable noun, like "milk jug" or "water fountain." So you might say, "Where's the milk jug/garbage can/water fountain?" or you might say, "Do you have a milk jug/garbage can/water fountain?"

But saying, "Do you have a garbage?" applies an inappropriate article to an uncountable noun.

The construction seems to turn "garbage" into shorthand for "garbage can," which is a countable noun. But I'd never heard of it before this thread.

[EvilTOJ]

I've never heard the phrase "a garbage" until now. If I heard someone say it, I'd probably reply "a garbage what?"

[Eliahna]

When did you first hear this construct: dropping the word "can" or "bag"?
This thread title is the first time I've ever seen it... and it looks weird. I want to ask it "A garbage what?' Bag? Bin? Pile? Fetish?

[WOOKINPANUB]

Speaking:

Ur doing it wrong.

[Harmonious Discord]

People also want to know where's the trash.

[Jamaika a jamaikaiaké]

I wonder if it's a construction based on lolspeak -- i.e., "I haz a flavor," "I haz a money," etc.


Probably not. Since other posters are saying they've heard it for decades, I'm going to place my bet on a Recency Illusion. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recency_illusion)

[Dallas Jones]

A garbage, or the garbage or trash, sure that's how we say it. Why the need to refer to the container? Can to me means a metal container, ours are plastic.

We also have a dryer, a washer, a fridge, a freezer, a shower, a stove. We put clothes in the laundry, not laundry hamper or laundry basket, just laundry.

We don't say drying machine, washing machine, refridgerator unit, shower stall, you get the idea.

[Left Hand of Dorkness]

We also have a dryer, a washer, a fridge, a freezer, a shower, a stove. We put clothes in the laundry, not laundry hamper or laundry basket, just laundry.
Note that all over those except one are verbs with -er or -or attached to the end, showing that the object in question is a performer of the verb ("fridge" is short for "refrigerator"). The stove is the exception, and it describe the object directly; the functional parts of the stove are the burners, which follows the pattern.

So your point would hold if we called it a stinker.

[Shot From Guns]

We don't say drying machine, washing machine, refridgerator unit, shower stall, you get the idea.

You probably also don't say a milk, a water, or a homework.

[Gary "Wombat" Robson]

A garbage, or the garbage or trash, sure that's how we say it. Why the need to refer to the container? Can to me means a metal container, ours are plastic.

We also have a dryer, a washer, a fridge, a freezer, a shower, a stove. We put clothes in the laundry, not laundry hamper or laundry basket, just laundry.

We don't say drying machine, washing machine, refridgerator unit, shower stall, you get the idea.That's completely different.

Calling a garbage receptacle a "garbage" is referring to it by the name of the stuff you put in there. Put the whole sentence together: "May I put my garbage in your garbage?" It makes no sense.*

You don't put dryer in a dryer or fridge in a fridge or stove in a stove. You put clothes in a dryer, food in a fridge, and things to be cooked in a stove.

* That is, it doesn't mean what they think it means.

[Dallas Jones]

You probably also don't say a milk, a water, or a homework.

Actually I would say "get me a milk", or a water or a pop or a beer. I do not bother with the redundancy of refering to a glass of milk or glass of water, a can of pop or bottle of beer. I am able to assume that the milk will not just be poured into my hands but will come in a container.

The container then becomes what it holds. A glass of milk is a milk, a can of pop is a pop, a bottle of beer is a beer, and .....wait for it.... a container of garbage is a garbage.

Why ask 'where is your garbage can?' when the recepticle is probably not a can at all? Where's the garbage? Do you have a garbage? Sounds fine.

[Gary "Wombat" Robson]

Why ask 'where is your garbage can?' when the recepticle is probably not a can at all? Where's the garbage? Do you have a garbage? Sounds fine."Where's the garbage?" sounds natural and fine to me. I say it myself.

"Do you have a garbage" still sounds wrong.

[Shot From Guns]

Why ask 'where is your garbage can?' when the recepticle is probably not a can at all? Where's the garbage? Do you have a garbage? Sounds fine.

We're not talking about "the garbage" or "your garbage"--we're talking about "a garbage." The former two sound fine to me, while the lattermost sounds weird. And to insist that "garbage can" is incorrect because the container probably isn't metal... Well, I certainly hope you refuse to use any other remotely idiomatic speech. (For instance, you'd better not ever "turn off a light" by flipping a switch.)

Plus, if you actually look up the definition of "can," you'll see:

1 : a usu. cylindrical receptacle: a : a vessel for holding liquids; specifically : a drinking vessel b : a usually metal typically cylindrical receptacle usually with an open top, often with a removable cover, and sometimes with a spout or side handles (as for holding milk or trash)

Usually metal, typically cylindrical, but not necessarily either.