It's the "polite," formal phrase. Sort of like "toilet tissue." It's toilet paper unless it's being offered to you by one of those bathroom attendants in a fancy hotel or something. I've heard "waste paper basket" a few times, but it's not something most people are saying in casual conversation.
When I hear it I think about a bin specific to paper which certainly exists in certain businesses I've been too who are concerned about recycling the paper, but more generally 'trash can' is what most will encounter of course in their homes.
Weirdly i grew up with waste paper basket and even i thought it was weirdly formal. It was specifically the small, literal baskets in the “powder room” and bathrooms. The trash can was the trash can, in the kitchen. My ancestry is roughly germanic, irish, french and english. Powder room, foyer, study, guest room, duvet, waste paper basket, etc definitely came from my mothers german/irish family.
It's always fascinating to learn what people grew up hearing. "Powder room" for me was something that only existed in movies. But my parents were the type who "warshed" their clothes.
Oh my dad warshed his clothes in the zink. His mom grew up on the eastern shore of murlind without running water. His parents met in the service during ww2. He married up lol.
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u/Blue_Waffle_Brunch 13h ago
I don't think I've ever heard someone say waste paper basket. It's just the garbage.