bucket / old banger
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bucket / tub
A large, open container, often with handles, used for transporting liquids or solid materials; a bucket or tub.
Stell bitte einen Kübel unter die undichte Stelle an der Decke.
Please put a bucket under the leak in the ceiling.
old banger
Colloquial and derogatory term for an old, often rusty or poorly functioning car.
Ich weiß nicht, ob mein alter Kübel die Fahrt bis nach Italien noch schafft.
I don't know whether my old banger will still make it all the way to Italy.
The context reveals whether the container or the car is meant. Words like 'Wasser' (water), 'Pflanzen' (plants), or 'Müll' (trash) point to the container. Words like 'fahren' (to drive), 'alt' (old), 'Rost' (rust), or 'Motor' (engine) point to the car.
Wirf den Abfall bitte in den Kübel da drüben.
Please throw the trash into the bucket over there.
The idiom 'es schüttet wie aus Kübeln' or 'es gießt wie aus Kübeln' means that it is raining very heavily. It uses the image of an overturned bucket of water.
Nimm einen Schirm mit, es schüttet draußen wie aus Kübeln!
Take an umbrella with you; it's pouring outside!
'Kübel' (bucket/tub) is often part of compound words that describe its function more precisely, for example 'der Müllkübel' (trash bin), 'der Blumenkübel' (flower tub/planter), or 'der Pflanzkübel' (plant tub/planter).
Im Frühling bepflanze ich immer die Blumenkübel auf dem Balkon.
In spring, I always plant flowers in the planters on the balcony.
Using 'Kübel' (old banger) for a car is purely colloquial and has a negative or derogatory meaning. It expresses that the car is old, loud, and in poor condition.
Sein erster Wagen war ein rostiger, klappriger Kübel.
His first car was a rusty, rickety old banger.
box / crate
Kiste and Kübel can both be colloquial terms for an old or poorly functioning car. Kiste can also sound humorous or only mildly derogatory. Kübel usually expresses a much more negative judgment, for example of a rusty or very poor-quality car.
Diesen rostigen Kübel möchte ich keinen Kilometer mehr fahren.
I wouldn’t want to drive this rusty old banger another mile.
Meine alte Kiste fährt langsam, aber ich mag sie trotzdem.
My old car is slow, but I still like it.
