# Do you have a garbage? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 3, 2009, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-garbage/505214 "2009-08-03T20:57:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-garbage/505214/21 "2009-08-05T00:06:02Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-garbage/505214/22 "2009-08-05T09:19:15Z")
I’ve never heard the phrase “a garbage” until now. If I heard someone say it, I’d probably reply “a garbage what?” ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-garbage/505214/23 "2009-08-05T09:37:24Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > 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? ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-garbage/505214/24 "2009-08-05T15:47:38Z")
Speaking: Ur doing it wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-garbage/505214/25 "2009-08-05T16:18:02Z")
People also want to know where’s the trash. ---
**Author:** ![Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-garbage/505214/26 "2009-08-05T16:29:41Z")
> [@Claire\_Beauchamp](#): > > 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) ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-garbage/505214/27 "2009-08-05T16:51:07Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-garbage/505214/28 "2009-08-05T18:31:50Z")
> [@ghardester](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-garbage/505214/29 "2009-08-05T19:18:26Z")
> [@ghardester](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-garbage/505214/30 "2009-08-05T19:56:51Z")
> [@ghardester](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-garbage/505214/31 "2009-08-05T20:50:32Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-garbage/505214/32 "2009-08-05T21:15:40Z")
> [@ghardester](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-garbage/505214/33 "2009-08-05T21:28:41Z")
> [@ghardester](#): > > 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: [[QUOTE=m-w.com](http://QUOTE=m-w.com)] \*\*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) [/QUOTE] Usually metal, typically cylindrical, but not necessarily either. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-garbage/505214.md?page=1)