garbage, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

garbage n.

[fig. uses of SE; note orig. 15C–19C SE garbage, ‘the offal of an animal used for food; esp. the entrails. Rarely, the entrails of a man’ (OED)]

1. (UK Und.) stolen goods, esp. parcels or packages.

1591		Greene Second Part of Conny-Catching in Grosart (1881–3) X 118: And the whiles he begins to resolue which of them mostly may be lifted, and what Garbage (for so he calles the goods stolne) may be most easily conuaid.
1608		Dekker Belman of London G3: The goods [...] is called Garbage: which Garbage is sometime Plate, or Iewels, sometimes pieces of Ueluet, sometimes Cloakes or Lawyers Gownes.

2. nonsense, rubbish; often as used in criticism, e.g. of a record.

1877		Pall Mall Gaz. 23 Feb. 10/2: Theatrical Garbage [...] So much pestilential stuff has been poured out from French theatres.
1895		‘’Arry and the New Woman’ in Punch 18 May 230/1: There ain’t nothink new in their Newness; it’s only old garbidge warmed up.
1911		Sheffield Dly Teleg. 23 Mar. 6/3: They want to raise the moral tone [...] which might conceivably do English letters more harm than all the garbage ever written.
1925		D. Hammett ‘The Scorched Face’ Story Omnibus (1966) 70: All the facts [...] were there, plus photographs, and the usual assortment of guesses and similar garbage.
1947		E. Condon We Called It Music 246: Swing bands took the town over; some played jazz, some played garbage.
1963		G. Lambert Inside Daisy Clover (1966) 20: My sister Gloria has proved herself to be [...] Garbage.
1970		E. Tidyman Shaft 64: Oh, hell, it was all garbage.
1987		B. Chatwin Songlines 288: A bunch of total garbage.
1999		Guardian Rev. 17 July 4: The man who ceremoniously stir-fried [...] the album before anyone else had the bravery to admit it was garbage.
2000		W. Shaw Westsiders 84: He was garbage [...] He was fuckin’ garbage.

3. bad food.

1927		C. Samolar ‘Argot of the Vagabond’ in AS II:9 389: In the matter of food (chuck, garbage or scoffings).
1936		San Quentin Bulletin in L.A. Times 6 May 7: GARBAGE, food.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn) 94: garbage A term used by tramps and hobos for food.
1953		T.A.G. Hungerford Riverslake 218: Well, let someone else stir that garbage for a while.
1957		‘Weldon Hill’ Onionhead (1958) 86: ‘How’s de chow here, bud?’ ‘Lousy [...] It’s garbage’.
1962		S. Longstreet Flesh Peddlers (1964) 155: How about a Mulberry Street Italian dinner? [...] how does it sound after this hotel garbage?
1971		Wodehouse Much Obliged, Jeeves 108: The garbage I had had to insult the Wooster stomach with at the pub.
1981		J. Wambaugh Glitter Dome (1982) 198: It was garbage burgers, fries, and peanuts for the rest of the week.
1989		(con. 1984) P. Theroux My Secret Hist. (1990) 444: A cube of dry cake. ‘Garbage,’ Eden said.

4. cabbage.

1940		‘Argot of the Sea’ in AS XV:4 Dec. 450/2: garbage. Mess-table term for cabbage.
1959		I. & P. Opie Lore and Lang. of Schoolchildren (1977) 183: School cabbage is ‘garbage’ or ‘seaweed’ apparently all over Britain.

5. (drugs) poor-quality or heavily adulterated drugs; orig. heroin, but since ext. to cover all drugs.

1966		J. Mills Panic in Needle Park (1971) 12: Not just any connection, but a connection who deals good quality stuff—‘dynamite,’ not ‘garbage’.
1973		M. Agar Ripping and Running 142: The dope is good man, you know, [...] it’s better than twelve bags of garbage.
1981		D.E. Miller Bk of Jargon 341: garbage: Extremely weak heroin.
1995		(con. 1985–90) P. Bourjois In Search of Respect 102: The first time we open we be selling shit. [...] I done told Ray. ‘What’s up? This shit is garbage.’.
2001		ONDCP Street Terms 10: Garbage — Inferior quality marijuana; low quality heroin.
2012		G. Pelecanos (con. 1972) What It Was 46: Williams [...] cut his heroin, which was generally 4 to 12 percent pure when it hit the end user. Four was garbage, 12 a smoker.
2019		N. Walker Cherry 234: The heroin was super-stepped-on. I said, “No offense, Gary, but this shit is kind of some garbage.

6. trivia, anything unimportant.

1970

T. Southern Blue Movie (1974) 47: These pictures were budgeted at about a million each and [...] were referred to as ‘the garbage’.

7. (US) behaviour, presumably bad.

2012

J. Conley ‘Pipe’ in ThugLit Oct. [ebook] ‘I’ve had enough of you [...] You need to keep you garbage in check’.

In compounds

garbage head (n.) [-head sfx (4)] (drugs)

1. (also garbage freak) a user who will consume anything on offer, irrespective of quality, purity, efficacy etc.

1969		R.R. Lingeman Drugs from A to Z (1970).
1975		J. Roe The Same Old Grind 9: One of the kindred, Garbage-head Victor, had swallowed the whole bottleful [of vitamins].
1982		A. Shaw Dict. Pop/Rock.

2. users who buy crack cocaine from street dealers instead of cooking it themselves.

2001

ONDCP Street Terms 10: Garbage heads — Users who buy crack from street dealers instead of cooking it themselves.

SE in slang uses

In compounds

garbage can (n.)

(US) a disgusting person, esp. an old prostitute.

1927		‘Jargon of the Und.’ in DN V 447: Garbage can, (1) An old prostitute.
1931		Irwin Amer. Tramp and Und. Sl. 83: Garbage Can. – An old prostitute; probably, therefore, none too clean.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn).
1962		Ragen & Finston World’s Toughest Prison 800: garbage can – An old prostitute.
1975		E. Torres Carlito’s Way 72: Being a garbage can he showed his hand on the first deal.

garbage guts (n.)

(N.Z.) a greedy eater.

1973		J.K. Baxter ‘The Counter-Lunch’ in Coll. Poems (1979) 359: Nobody gets a look in / When Caelius cleans up the counter-lunch / (They call him Garbage Guts).
2003		McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl.

garbage hound (n.) [-hound sfx]

(US prison) a voracious eater who enjoys even prison food.

1962

Ragen & Finston World’s Toughest Prison 800: GARBAGE HOUNDS – ‘Dugouts’ who thrive on felons’ fare.

garbage mouth (n.)

a regular, even obsessive user of obscenity or profanity; also as v., to abuse; also attrib.

1970		A. Lewis Carnival 27: Last year he blew up at a carny they call ‘Garbage Mouth’ because of his foul language [HDAS].
1971		(con. 1960s) D. Wells Night People 107: Say, where’s Garbage Mouth?
1972		B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 93: garbage-mouth somebody. 1. to backbite. 2. to heckle, rebuke somebody.
1977		J. Sayles Union Dues (1978) 89: Bunch of sorry-lookin’, garbage-mouth coal miners.
1985		J.A. Lukas Common Ground 452: Pixie rarely hesitated to say what was on her mind, often in explicit street language, which earned her the nickname ‘Garbage Mouth’.
1998		G. Aldrich Unlimited Access 150: Sitting across from us was Rahm Emanuel, who was notorious for his temper tantrums and garbage mouth.
2002		Samalin & Whitney Loving without Spoiling 198: Parent’s Story: Garbage Mouth To discourage her three-year-old daughter from using slang, Carol decided that slang goes in the garbage.
2012		R.A. Dickey Wherever I Wind Up 40: I cuss under my breath. [...] Now she doesn’t appreciate my tone. Come with me, young man. You are going to regret your garbage mouth.

garbage wagon (n.)

a motorcycle that still retains its basic style and specifications, before being adapted for use by an outlaw motorcycle gang.

1966

H.S. Thompson Hell’s Angels (1967) 102: The Angels refer to standard 74s as ‘garbage wagons’.

garbage worker (n.)

(US carnival) one who sells vegetable cutters.

1963

A.S. Fleischman Venetian Blonde (2006) 232: When the garbage workers – the fakirs pitching vegetable cutters – got hungry they could feed on the display.