'Trash Talk' and Other Trashy Expressions

 

And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning¹ English.

At the beginning of a new year, some people like to start with a clean slate². They like to start fresh. Sometimes that involves simply cleaning your house and getting rid of things you do not need. Some things you can give away to others or donate. Other things without value or use are trash.

And so trash is also our topic for today. After we talk about some trash expressions, you will hear them used in a conversation.

In American English, we have other words for trash such as garbage and rubbish. They all mean the same thing. Sometimes we use them interchangeably in expressions. But sometimes we don't.

Let's begin with this expression: trash talk.

"Trash talk" is insulting³ speech aimed at a person or a group. Trash talk is very common in sports. Members of one team could trash talk to members of another team.

For example, in baseball, if a player hits the ball poorly, the other team might say, "My 80-year-old grandmother hits harder than that!"

The term "trash talk" is a set expression. So, we do not say "garbage talk" or "rubbish talk."

Trash talk has another meaning. It can mean meaningless or false talk. We also call that kind of trash talk a load of nonsense⁴. In that case, you could say that trash talk is a "load of rubbish," or a "load of garbage." Those all work and sound natural.

Garbage and rubbish

Here is another expression that uses the words rather well: "Good riddance to bad rubbish."

We say "good riddance" as a way of saying "goodbye" to something bad that will not be missed. So, "good riddance to bad rubbish" means it is better for everyone that the person or thing is leaving.

We could also say "good riddance to bad garbage." However, "good riddance to bad trash" does not sound right. So, we do not use trash in that expression.

Garbage and trash

Now, there are other expressions that use garbage and trash but not rubbish.

A raccoon is an animal known for getting into people's trash cans and stealing their garbage. The black color around the eyes makes a raccoon look like a bandit⁵ or a robber⁶. So, a funny name for a raccoon is either trash bandit or garbage bandit. We do not, however, call it a rubbish bandit. Again, it just doesn't sound right.

The same thing happens when a person uses bad language. We say he has a garbage mouth or she has a trash mouth. Again, we do not say rubbish mouth.

Garbage in, garbage out

Our last expression for today is "garbage in, garbage out." This means if something is of bad quality or done incorrectly, it most likely will produce poor results.

In computing⁷, you might hear an engineer says garbage in, or bad codes⁹, will produce garbage out, or poor computer programs.

But you can use it for other situations as well. For example, we often say "garbage in, garbage out" as a warning to eat healthy food. If you put bad food in your body, your energy and physical abilities will be affected¹⁰.

For this expression, it is common to use "garbage." Others will understand you if you say, "rubbish in, rubbish out" or "trash in, trash out." But they don't sound as natural as "garbage in, garbage out."

Now, as promised, let's hear two friends use some of these expressions.

A: How was the basketball game last night? Did your team win?

B: We did! We beat the other team by like 20 points.

A: Wow. You creamed them! What happened? Did they forget how to play?

B: They said they didn't practice ... at all. So, you know what they say: Garbage in, garbage out.

A: Well, win or lose -- it sounds like you had fun.

B: We did. The second best thing about the game was all the trash-talking. We got very creative with our insults¹¹.

A: Didn't the other team get mad?

B: Nah! It's all in good fun. They were doing their own trash talking. Soon we were competing over who had the best insults!

A: That does sound fun, especially if no one takes it personally.

B: Well ... one guy on the other team did. He kept dropping the ball. So, we called him butter hands.

A: I'm guessing he didn't like that.

B: No, he didn't. He actually left the game. But his teammates didn't seem to care. All they said was ... good riddance to bad rubbish!

A: Now, THAT is really trashy trash talk.

And that's all the time we have for this Words and Their Stories. Hopefully using our content at VOA Learning English is not garbage in, garbage out.

Until next time ... I'm Anna Matteo!

Words in This Story

clean slate -n. a person's record (as from a school or a job) that shows no evidence of any problems, broken rules, etc. : a clean record

conversation -n. a talk between two or more people : the act of talking

interchangeably -adv. capable¹² of being used in place of each other

load of nonsense -n. large amount of words or ideas that are foolish or untrue : a lot of language that has no meaning

bandit -n. a criminal who attacks and steals from travelers and who is often a member of a group of criminals

code⁸ -n. instructions for a computer (as within a piece of software)

cream -v. to defeat (a person or team) easily and completely

1 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

2 slate   

n.板岩，石板，石片，石板色，候选人名单；adj.暗蓝灰色的，含板岩的；vt.用石板覆盖，痛打，提名，预订

参考例句：

• The nominating committee laid its slate before the board.提名委员会把候选人名单提交全体委员会讨论。
• What kind of job uses stained wood and slate? 什么工作会接触木头污浊和石板呢？

3 insulting   

侮辱的

参考例句：

• She was really insulting to me. 她对我实在粗鲁无礼。
• All of us bristled at the lawyer's speech insulting our forefathers. 听到那个律师在讲演中污蔑我们的祖先，大家都气得怒发冲冠。

4 nonsense   

n.胡说，废话

参考例句：

• Go along with you! What you say is all nonsense!去你的！你说的全是废话！
• "Don't talk nonsense",she said sharply.“别胡扯”，她严厉地说。

5 bandit   

n.土匪，盗匪，歹徒

参考例句：

• The police frustrated the bandit's attempt to rob the bank.警方挫败了匪徒抢劫银行的企图。
• Her eyes were walled up by the bandit.她的眼睛被那个匪徒蒙住了。

6 robber   

n.抢劫者，强盗，盗贼

参考例句：

• The robber told the woman to come across with her purse.拦路抢劫者勒令那个女人把钱包交出来。
• The robber tried to run away but a man tackled him.强盗企图逃跑，但一个人把他抓住了。

7 computing   

n.计算

参考例句：

• to work in computing 从事信息处理
• Back in the dark ages of computing, in about 1980, they started a software company. 早在计算机尚未普及的时代（约1980年），他们就创办了软件公司。

8 code   

n.代码，代号，密码；法典，法规，规划

参考例句：

• What's the code for Tianjin?天津的代号是多少？
• Remember to use postal code.勿忘使用邮政编码。

9 codes   

n.[计算机]编码( code的名词复数 )；代号；密码；法典

参考例句：

• A generation ago genetic codes were certainly unknown. 遗传密码在上一代确实很少有人知道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• So, sometimes, authors adopt Flasm to write low level p-codes to add efficiency. 所以，设计者采用Flasm来编写低级的p-codes以提高效率。 来自互联网

10 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

11 insults   

侮辱，辱骂，侮辱性的言论( insult的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He shouted insults at the boy who had kicked him. 他大声辱骂那个踢了他的男孩。
• I will by no manner of means put up with such insults. 我绝不会容忍这种侮辱。

12 capable   

adj.有能力的，有才能的

参考例句：

• The new woman secretary was extremely clever and capable.这位新来的女秘书很是精明强干。
• Jim is capable at sports.吉姆擅长运动。