人们生活中时时刻刻都在制造垃圾，我们来看看与“垃圾”有关的一些英文表达。

1. rubbish: all the paper, empty bottles, cans, pieces of food etc that you throw away

备注：''rubbish''是英式英语的用法。

例：

The dustmen collect the rubbish on Wednesdays. （收垃圾的人每周三收一次垃圾。）

There was rubbish and broken glass all over the grass. （草地上都是垃圾和碎玻璃。）

put/take out the rubbish (=put it in a rubbish bin outside your house ready to be collected)

Don't forget to put the rubbish out before you go to bed. （睡觉前别忘了倒垃圾。）

a rubbish bin (=a container for rubbish) 垃圾桶

Two stolen paintings have been found dumped in a rubbish bin. （那两幅被偷走的画已经找到了，当时被扔在垃圾桶里。）

2. garbage/trash: all the paper, empty bottles, cans, pieces of food etc that you throw away

备注：''garbage/trash''是美式英语的用法。

例：

There were piles of trash in the backyard. （后院有好多垃圾。）

take out the garbage/trash (=put it in a garbage can outside your house ready to be collected)

I do all the chores, from picking up the groceries to taking out the garbage. （我做了好多家务活，买生活用品，倒垃圾，不一而足。）

garbage/trash can (=a container for garbage) 垃圾桶

Will someone please empty this trash can! （谁去倒下垃圾桶！）

garbage truck (=a truck that takes away garbage)

Ken drives a garbage truck for a living. （肯开垃圾车，维持生计。）

《老爸老妈浪漫史》S01E15例子：

情境：

Marshall: I took the only good part of backgammon, the "gammon," and I left the rest of it in the trash where it belongs. （我只取了它名字好的那部分——后半部分，前半部分被我扔到垃圾桶了，本来就该呆在垃圾桶里的！）

题外话：

现在中国丽江、大理这些旅游景区，有很多白人老外，每天似乎就过着纸醉金迷的生活，泡吧泡妹。我们别以为老外都是这个样子，其实他们是在自己国内不好混，才来中国的。英文里也有一个专门形容这类人的词，叫''white trash''，望文生义，意思大家可以自己体会。

3. waste paper: paper that you throw away, especially because it has been used

例：

There are two bins. One is for glass and one is for waste paper. （有两个垃圾桶，一个装废玻璃，一个装废纸。）

waste paper bin/basket 废纸篓（''waste paper bin''是英式英语的用法，''waste paper basket''是美式英语的用法。）

She crumpled the letter up and put it in the waste paper basket. （她把信揉成一团仍在废纸篓里。）

4. litter: waste paper, cans etc that people have thrown away and left on the ground in a public place

备注：''litter''指公共场所的垃圾。

例：

These streets are full of litter. （大街上全是垃圾。）

drop litter

You can be fined £100 for dropping litter. （乱扔垃圾罚款£100。）

pick up litter

I am tired of picking up litter thrown by other people. （我捡垃圾捡得烦死了。）

litter bin / basket 垃圾桶

5. refuse: all the things that are regularly thrown away from the houses, shops etc in an area

备注：''refuse''是正式的用法。

例：

Heaps of decaying refuse littered every street. （街上堆满了腐坏的垃圾。）

6. waste: useless materials which are left over, especially after an industrial process, and which must be thrown away

例：

Too much waste has been dumped into the North Sea. （往北海倾倒了太多垃圾了。）