How to Say Garbage in 70 Different Languages

Garbage is an everyday term referring to waste or unwanted material. Despite its mundane nature, the way people talk about garbage varies significantly around the world, not just in language but in the cultural significance and management practices related to waste. In this article, we explore how the word “garbage” is expressed across 70 different languages.

Here is a list of how to say “garbage” in 70 different languages:

1. Albanian (🇦🇱) – Mbeturina | Pronunciation: Mbe-tu-ri-na
2. Arabic (Standard) (🇸🇦) – قمامة (Qumamah) | Pronunciation: Koo-ma-mah
3. Armenian (🇦🇲) – Աղբ (Aghb) | Pronunciation: Aghb
4. Azerbaijani (🇦🇿) – Zibil | Pronunciation: Zi-bil
5. Basque (🇪🇸) – Zaborra | Pronunciation: Za-bor-ra
6. Belarusian (🇧🇾) – Смецце (Smietstse) | Pronunciation: Smie-ts-tse
7. Bengali (🇧🇩) – আবর্জনা (Abarjona) | Pronunciation: A-bar-jo-na
8. Bosnian (🇧🇦) – Smeće | Pronunciation: Sme-che
9. Bulgarian (🇧🇬) – Боклук (Bokluk) | Pronunciation: Bok-luk
10. Catalan (🇪🇸 – Catalonia) – Escombraries | Pronunciation: Es-com-bra-ries
11. Czech (🇨🇿) – Odpadky | Pronunciation: Od-pad-kee
12. Danish (🇩🇰) – Affald | Pronunciation: Af-fald
13. Dutch (🇳🇱) – Afval | Pronunciation: Af-val
14. English (🇺🇸 / 🇬🇧) – Garbage | Pronunciation: Gar-bij
15. Estonian (🇪🇪) – Prügi | Pronunciation: Pry-gi
16. Farsi (Persian) (🇮🇷) – زباله (Zobale) | Pronunciation: Zo-ba-le
17. Finnish (🇫🇮) – Jäte | Pronunciation: Ya-te
18. French (🇫🇷) – Déchets | Pronunciation: Day-shay
19. Georgian (🇬🇪) – ნაგავი (Nagavi) | Pronunciation: Na-ga-vi
20. German (🇩🇪) – Müll | Pronunciation: Mool
21. Greek (🇬🇷) – Σκουπίδια (Skoupidia) | Pronunciation: Skoo-pi-thee-a
22. Hebrew (🇮🇱) – זבל (Zeval) | Pronunciation: Zeh-val
23. Hindi (🇮🇳) – कचरा (Kachra) | Pronunciation: Ka-chra
24. Hungarian (🇭🇺) – Szemét | Pronunciation: Se-met
25. Icelandic (🇮🇸) – Rusl | Pronunciation: Rustl
26. Indonesian (🇮🇩) – Sampah | Pronunciation: Sam-pah
27. Irish Gaelic (🇮🇪) – Bruscar | Pronunciation: Brus-car
28. Italian (🇮🇹) – Rifiuti | Pronunciation: Ri-fu-ti
29. Japanese (🇯🇵) – ゴミ (Gomi) | Pronunciation: Go-mi
30. Kazakh (🇰🇿) – Қоқыс (Qoqys) | Pronunciation: Ko-kis
31. Khmer (Cambodian) (🇰🇭) – សំរាម (Samram) | Pronunciation: Sam-ram
32. Korean (🇰🇷) – 쓰레기 (Sseuregi) | Pronunciation: Sseu-re-gi
33. Kurdish (🇮🇶 / 🇸🇾 / 🇹🇷 / 🇮🇷) – Zibil | Pronunciation: Zi-bil
34. Kyrgyz (🇰🇬) – Таштанды (Tashtandy) | Pronunciation: Tasht-an-dy
35. Lao (🇱🇦) – ຂີ້ຂັດ (Khi Kat) | Pronunciation: Khee Kat
36. Latvian (🇱🇻) – Atkritumi | Pronunciation: At-kri-tu-mi
37. Lithuanian (🇱🇹) – Šiukšlės | Pronunciation: Shook-shles
38. Luxembourgish (🇱🇺) – Offall | Pronunciation: Off-all
39. Macedonian (🇲🇰) – Отпадоци (Otpadoci) | Pronunciation: Ot-pa-do-tsi
40. Malay (🇲🇾 / 🇮🇩) – Sampah | Pronunciation: Sam-pah
41. Maltese (🇲🇹) – Skart | Pronunciation: Skart
42. Mandarin Chinese (🇨🇳) – 垃圾 (Lājī) | Pronunciation: La-jee
43. Marathi (🇮🇳) – कचरा (Kachara) | Pronunciation: Ka-cha-ra
44. Mongolian (🇲🇳) – Хог (Hog) | Pronunciation: Hog
45. Nepali (🇳🇵) – फोहोर (Phohor) | Pronunciation: Fo-hor
46. Norwegian (🇳🇴) – Søppel | Pronunciation: Suh-pel
47. Pashto (🇦🇫) – کثافات (Kasafat) | Pronunciation: Ka-sa-fat
48. Persian (Farsi) (🇮🇷) – زباله (Zobale) | Pronunciation: Zo-ba-le
49. Polish (🇵🇱) – Śmieci | Pronunciation: Shmye-chee
50. Portuguese (🇵🇹 / 🇧🇷) – Lixo | Pronunciation: Lee-sho
51. Romanian (🇷🇴) – Gunoi | Pronunciation: Goo-noy
52. Russian (🇷🇺) – Мусор (Musor) | Pronunciation: Moo-sor
53. Serbian (🇷🇸) – Смеће (Smeće) | Pronunciation: Sme-che
54. Sinhala (🇱🇰) – කසළ (Kasala) | Pronunciation: Ka-sa-la
55. Slovak (🇸🇰) – Odpad | Pronunciation: Od-pad
56. Slovenian (🇸🇮) – Smeti | Pronunciation: Sme-tee
57. Somali (🇸🇴) – Qashin | Pronunciation: Qa-shin
58. Spanish (🇪🇸) – Basura | Pronunciation: Ba-su-ra
59. Swahili (🇰🇪 / 🇹🇿) – Taka-taka | Pronunciation: Ta-ka ta-ka
60. Swedish (🇸🇪) – Sopor | Pronunciation: So-por
61. Tajik (🇹🇯) – Зебел (Zebel) | Pronunciation: Ze-bel
62. Tamil (🇮🇳) – குப்பை (Kuppai) | Pronunciation: Koo-pai
63. Telugu (🇮🇳) – చెత్త (Cheththa) | Pronunciation: Chet-tha
64. Thai (🇹🇭) – ขยะ (Khaya) | Pronunciation: Kha-ya
65. Turkish (🇹🇷) – Çöp | Pronunciation: Chop
66. Ukrainian (🇺🇦) – Сміття (Smyttya) | Pronunciation: Smi-tya
67. Urdu (🇵🇰) – کوڑا (Kora) | Pronunciation: Ko-ra
68. Uzbek (🇺🇿) – Chiqindi | Pronunciation: Chee-kin-di
69. Vietnamese (🇻🇳) – Rác | Pronunciation: Rack
70. Welsh (🇬🇧 – Wales) – Sbwriel | Pronunciation: Sbwee-riel

This list illustrates not only the linguistic variety in the word “garbage” but also reflects on how globally pervasive the issue of waste management is, prompting conversations about sustainability and environmental care in every language.