2006-09-28 03:38:36 · 8 answers · asked by Hobby 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
Apparently it refers back to a time where tradesmen carried their tools in sacks. So if the employer was unhappy with a particular tradesman, he'd give him a sack to put his tools in and leave the shop, hence the term "given the sack".
If an employer is really unhappy about a tradesman, he'd set the tradesman's tools on fire so that he will not be able to work anymore, and save other employers the trouble he went through. That tradesman would the be said to have been "fired".
2006-09-28 03:46:47 · answer #1 · answered by k² 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It originated from tradesmen. They carried their tools round in a sack. When they were dismissed from their place of employment they would take their tools with them in a sack.
It was first known to be used in 1825 in "The English Spy" by Charles Westmacott.
It was used earlier in France in the 17th century: 'On luy a donné son sac'.
Alternative phrasings of "getting the sack" can also be: ' getting the bag' (northern England) and 'getting the empty' (London) as recorded in 1869 by John Hotten.
2006-09-28 03:50:20 · answer #2 · answered by Vix 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
In the Middle Ages, craftsmen employed to carry out work brought along their own tools, usually carried in a sack. If, during the course of a job, the employer felt that a craftsman's work was unsatisfactory, he was told to be on his way and his tool sack was returned to him (i.e. he was 'given the sack'). If the work was carried out very badly, a craftsman's tools might be melted down as a punishment - hence the expression 'to be fired'!
2006-09-28 03:55:15 · answer #3 · answered by Raymond 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A man at a feed store throwing the sack on the ground is what I see when I think of the word "sacked." They're bagged and ready to go?
2006-09-28 03:47:15 · answer #4 · answered by *babydoll* 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Trebs is right, although I think it was that people were given the sack to put their tools into in the days when masons etc travelled round on work.
2006-09-28 03:47:14 · answer #5 · answered by des10euk 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It may be from way back when people virtually lived at their place of work, they would have been handed a sack contining their belongings when they were required to leave
2006-09-28 03:45:12 · answer #6 · answered by trebs 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sack your things and go home!
2006-09-28 03:56:19 · answer #7 · answered by Walt. 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Boy I must be getting old because I have never heard that saying,And i do get out alot!Hollywood
2006-09-28 03:47:41 · answer #8 · answered by hollywood 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋