Losing your Job. Why do you get the 'sack' in the UK and get 'fired' in the US? Where do the terms come from?
Answers:
Getting the sack is an expression that dates back to medieval times when craftsmen used to carry their tools in a sack as they moved around looking for work. When they were dismissed, they were given the sack. However, if they had done a really bad job they were fired – their tools were set on fire and they were banished.
Sack in UK means bed. If you get the sack - you spend the whole day in bed (as a result of not having a job)
Sacked
The probable explanation for the expression is that in medieval times workman carried the tools or implements of their trade in a bag or sack, which they left at the end of the day in a safe place at their worksite. When an unsatisfactory worker was to be fired, on the last day on the job, his employer would hand him his pay and the sack containing his tools – he had gotten the SACK, he had been SACKED. Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang provides the equivalent Dutch phrases ‘iemand den zak geven,’ to give someone the sack, and ‘den zak krijgen,’ to get the sack, but no dates are provided
Fired
The easiest way to get rid of a union member was to fire that person. 'Fire' has meant to dismiss from employment since 1885, with to 'fire (out)' having meant to eject or throw a person out since 1871.
We use sacked and fired in UK . Well i do anyway
I think I like the sacked better than the fired. Maybe because I'm American. Getting sacked reminds me of being kicked around like a paper sack blowing in the wind. Getting fired just sounds like your blown away by fire. For some reason it's more pleasant sounding to be sacked.
I heard..
Generations ago, when there was someone in their community who people did not like, they would burn down their house, as opposed to killing them - forcing them to 'move on' to somewhere else.
Hence 'to be fired', was in relation to being forced to move on..
Accuracy? I don't know, but the concept does hold some water.
And the previous guy already explained 'the sack'..
Getting the sack is UK version
Getting the FIRED is USA version
In simple terms the American always want to be different
As always the UK spelling and English is CORRECT
Like the spelling of COLOUR is in UK
And COLOR is USA
because they got guns? lol, no seriously, we say both of these in uk, so i think it just depends on who is saying it
Search me.
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