garbage

slang

1. noun Lies or nonsense. Oh, that's total garbage—I never said anything like that to her. You mean we have to come in on Saturday for work, too? God, what a bunch of garbage! Please, his excuse is a load of garbage. He never had any intention of following through on his promise.

2. noun Something considered repulsive, repugnant, or utterly distasteful. You call that music? Turn that garbage off! With all the garbage kids see online these days, it's no wonder the way they talk. I can't believe I let you kids watch that garbage on MTV when you were growing up!

3. noun Erroneous computer code. This garbage here is why the site isn't displaying properly. Once you delete this garbage, reload the site, and let me know if it's working now. What is this garbage? It's like the new developer's never coded before!

4. adjective Repulsive or utterly distasteful as a result of repugnant behavior. Anyone who says they don't like ABBA is a garbage person—and a liar! No, I can't work with that garbage woman anymore. She fights me on every minute aspect of the project! The worst garbage people are the ones who smoke on the beach.

garbage bandit

slang A raccoon. Raccoons have a penchant for rooting through trash for food, and the coloring around their eyes is often likened to the stereotypical mask attributed to thieves and bandits. Our trash cans got knocked over again? Ugh, must be those darn garbage bandits at it again. That's no cat—it's a garbage bandit! A: "What was that crash?" B: "Looks like a fox and a garbage bandit are currently rooting through our trash."

garbage down

To eat something very quickly and eagerly. A noun or pronoun can be used between "garbage" and "down." Now that the baby is eating solid food, she just garbages down anything we put in front of her. Wow, you sure garbaged down that sandwich! You really were hungry! Can't we have a leisurely dinner for once? Why does everyone garbage down their food like they can't wait to get out of here?

garbage freak

slang A drug addict willing to take any drug. Of course she took those drugs—she's a garbage freak, she'll take anything! No, I never thought I'd do heroin, but once you become a garbage freak, you're always chasing that next high. Nothing's off limits anymore. A: "I can't believe he hit that meth pipe." B: "He's a garbage freak these days, I'm sorry to say."

garbage heap of history

A figurative location of irrelevance or obscurity doomed to be forgotten or ignored by humanity. These few ruins are all that remain of the once-proud civilization, now relegated to the garbage heap of history. With our superior military might, we will eradicate this feeble rebellion and leave them atop the garbage heap of history! The prime minister was singularly unremarkable, an effete leader who was quickly swept into the garbage heap of history.

garbage in, garbage out

Having inferior or incorrect materials, information, instructions, etc., at the beginning of a process will yield inferior or incorrect results. Said especially of computer systems. When used properly, these automation services can expedite the process tenfold, but only if the people running them are putting in the correct information from the outset—garbage in, garbage out. All the skill in the world won't help if you are cooking a dish with bad ingredients. As they say in the computer industry, garbage in, garbage out. A: "Why did I get a #VALUE! error?" B: "Because your formula included a cell that only had text in it, when all of the other cells only contained numbers. So, ultimately, garbage in, garbage out."

See also: garbage, out

garbage mouth

Someone who often uses language considered profanity. I don't want that garbage mouth watching our kids ever again—she taught them curse words! Wow, those are some mighty vulgar words for a 10-year-old to know. When did Billy become such a garbage mouth? My dad's a garbage mouth, especially during sporting events, so we need to keep the kids away from him.

garbage person

slang Someone who is repulsive or utterly distasteful due to repugnant behavior (such as being lazy, wasteful, or inconsiderate). The phrase is typically used humorously, and does not refer to sanitation workers. Anyone who says they don't like ABBA is a garbage person—and a liar! The worst garbage people are the ones who smoke on the beach. No, I can't work with a garbage person like her anymore. She fights me on every minute aspect of the project!

garbagehead

slang A drug addict willing to take any drug. Of course she hit that meth pipe. She's a garbagehead—she'll take anything you give her! No, I never thought I'd do heroin, but once you become a garbagehead, you're always chasing that next high. Nothing's off limits anymore. A: "I can't believe he took those drugs." B: "He's a garbagehead these days, I'm sorry to say."

piece of garbage

Someone or something that is totally or utterly worthless, contemptible, or of very poor quality. This old car my grandfather gave me is nothing but a piece of garbage! You piece of garbage! You take that back or I'll smash your face in!

ready for the garbage heap

1. Ready to be thrown away. Those files are years old—they're ready for the garbage heap.

2. Ready to be eliminated or dismissed. I might be in the minority, but I don't think our quarterback is ready for the garbage heap. He just came back from a major injury—give him some time to recover!

Garbage in, garbage out.

Prov. If you give nonsensical instructions to people or computers, those instructions will produce nonsensical results. Jill: Why is my computer generating all this gibberish? Jane: You must have made a mistake in the program. Garbage in, garbage out. Ed insists that children are so ignorant nowadays because their teachers are incompetent. "Garbage in, garbage out," he says.

See also: garbage, out

garbage something down

Sl. to gobble something up; to quickly swallow something down. Don't garbage your food down! That guy will garbage down almost anything.

garbage in, garbage out

If you say garbage in, garbage out, you mean that if you produce something using poor quality materials, the thing that you produce will also be of poor quality. Thomas warned that accurate data would be vital to the success of the scheme. `We must avoid garbage in, garbage out.' Note: This expression comes from computing. If the wrong information is put into the computer, the output will be useless.

See also: garbage, out

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

garbage in, garbage out

incorrect or poor quality input inevitably produces faulty output.

This expression is often abbreviated as GIGO . The phrase originated in the mid 20th century in the field of computing, but it can now have a more general application.

1987 Washington Times The computer rule ‘garbage in, garbage out’ applies to the human mind just as much as it does to the computer.

See also: garbage, out

garbage

1. n. nonsense; gibberish. He’s just talking garbage.

2. n. jumbled computer code. All I get is garbage on the screen.

garbage freak

and garbagehead

n. an addict who will take any drug. (Drugs.) They’re only teenagers and already they’re garbageheads. The garbageheads will take beans or anything else.

garbagehead

verb

See garbage freak

garbage mouth

n. someone who uses obscene language. Who’s the garbage mouth making all the noise?

garbage something down

tv. to gobble something up; to bolt something down. That guy will garbage down almost anything.