Rick Moen via luv-talk wrote:
Quoting Trent W. Buck (trentbuck@gmail.com):
Short version: Australian English has no direct analogue of the US/CA idiom "dumpster fire". We'd understand "train wreck", "clusterfuck", & "complete cock-up".
Due to US TV, movies, &c, "trashcan" & "dumpster" are understood, but we'd be more likely to say "rubbish bin" & "skip".
Something very odd: I've found that 'skip' (in that sense of the word) is entirely missing from American idiom (but again, something I grew up with in my active vocabulary, possibly on account of Oz influence in Hong Kong). I got quizzical looks when I tried to use it in conversation, in the USA.
I've made some headway at getting more locals to use 'roundabout' instead of the lame expression 'traffic circle' that seems to have arisen in bureaucracy.
One of my favourites is South African "robot".