How Many Ways Can You Say Garbage?

Garbage--trash--rubbish--debris--refuse--waste. Your eighth-grade English teacher would be proud of your to exercise your vocabulary with multiple synonyms in a narrative assignment about your chores or an expository assignment concerning the importance recycling. Yet, according to the waste management sources, each of those words has a different meaning. And sometimes "Definitions for the same waste may vary within government statutes, regulations, and legislation," according to the Zero Waste America's website today. Garbage means discarded animal and plant matter; garnish on a dish or in a drink; or worthless, inferior, perhaps false, communication. Trash means worthless or discarded material such as paper products, and can refer to people. Be careful when you ask your spouse or child to take out the garbage or trash. You might find the TV or the phone or a person missing! Defining your terms and being specific take on new priority! Others have learned this lesson and have infused their languages with precise choices. For instance, Eskimoan languages have approximately 180 words or word variations for snow and ice, and more than 1000 words for reindeer! Before giving your next speech at a conference, report to the Board of Directors, or lecture at the dinner table, consider what words you must define for clarity. Be precise and specific. Then be consistent by using the same word for the same meaning throughout the commmunication. Switching to a synonym may make your English teacher happy, but doing so in business or at home can confuse those around you into thinking you mean something different when you choose another word.