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The Surprisingly Mundane Reason Skip Bins Called That Way

  • Written by News Company

Visitors and immigrants to Australia, Britain, and New Zealand tend to be confused by various words used to describe everyday objects. This is thanks in large part to the dominance of American English as the basis for English as a Second Language (ESL) instruction in countries all over the world.

The dominance of Hollywood and American pop culture has further cemented the “Americanisation” of different English standards all over the world, even here in Australia, where we have seen significant American influences in Australian English, which is largely based on British standards.

So it’s no surprise that working foreign students and recent migrants are sometimes amused, confused, or chagrined to learn that what it means when they’re supposed to toss some rubbish into a “skip”. A skip, which most of the English-speaking world would probably call a “dumpster,” refers to a type of large rubbish cart or container (usually open) that’s intended for rubbish disposal.

Australia has very stringent rubbish disposal guidelines, compared to most of the world, and many visitors and migrants are likely to not just encounter the word “skip” in reference to rubbish disposal bins, but also see very different attitudes towards waste disposal than they may have been used to in their home countries.

They, along with many Australians, may wonder why these bins came to be called this way. The term “skip bin” is most common in Australia and New Zealand and recognised but somewhat less common in Britain, but few people know how a word that usually means “to jump” became one associated with rubbish.

The Etymological Origins of “Skip Bin”

Most scholars point to the Old English word “sceppe”, which may be derived or related to the Old Norse word “skeppa,” which means “basket.” These words themselves are the origin of the rarely used Modern English word “skep,” which later morphed into “skip” due to the accents common to first European settlers of Australia. It’s also possible, (though very unlikely) that “skip” may be a modified contraction of the word “basket” itself.

This means that at some point in the 19th century, the word “skip/skep” somehow diverged in meaning from its contemporary “basket” to become a more specialised word. It’s worth noting that English speakers all over the world use the term “wastebasket” for smaller rubbish containers as well, especially in North America, though this has been slowly superseded by the term “trash can”.

Of course, the modern metal skip bin bears very little resemblance to a basket as most of us picture it, and one might view the term “skip bin” as almost repetitive as the term “ATM machine” given its etymological origins. But that’s just another quirk that makes the many hundreds of varieties of English all over the world so interesting to study.

Find Skip Bin Rental Services Today

If you want to rent out a skip bin for your home or business, be sure to check out Local Skip Bin Hire. The website connects Australians to the skip bin hire services that are closest and most relevant to their needs. 

Local Skip Bin Hire frees you from the problem of having to shop around for the best value in skip bins, showing you all the services closest to your location. Simply enter your location, the type of waste you have, as well the estimated bin sizes and types needed to get a free quote.