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I have always assumed both refer to the English word bin, which is a receptacle, box, etc. E.g. trash bin.
by ddeck 10y ago
I have always assumed both refer to the English word bin, which is a receptacle, box, etc. E.g. trash bin.
- mattmanser 10y agoWe just call them bins in the UK, not trash bins. Putting something in the bin idiomatically means throwing it away. Perhaps that's a modern usage. We do also have bread bins, which is about the only use meaning 'receptacle' I can think of outside of warehouse bins.
- caf 10y agoIn New Zealand they also have chilly bins.
- joosters 10y agoI think it is a UK phrase, or at least not US. A friend of mine from Taiwan, with excellent (US) English, had never heard of using the word 'bin' for trash before.
- the_watcher 10y agoIt's not common in the US, but you hear it now and again here. The most similar example I can think of is probably "lift." You'll hear someone call an elevator that every so often in the US, but it's mainly the UK term