# etymology of "fired" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 4, 2003, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-fired/159085 "2003-03-04T20:57:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Logical\_Phallacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Logical\_Phallacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Logical_Phallacy)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-fired/159085/1 "2003-03-04T20:57:36Z")
Had I not been “fired” I would likely not be wasting my days searching for random etymologies. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-fired/159085/2 "2003-03-04T21:02:38Z")
“To be driven or forced out, as if by fire” Paraphrased from OED, and it’s centuries old. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-fired/159085/3 "2003-03-04T21:04:28Z")
It, of course, is from the word “fire” as in “to fire a gun.” The OED has the first instance in 1885. The image is to eject someone from a job like a gun ejects a bullet. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-fired/159085/4 "2003-03-04T21:05:43Z")
**Mjollnir** – the OED says your derivation is “unlikely.” ---
**Author:** ![Logical\_Phallacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Logical\_Phallacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Logical_Phallacy)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-fired/159085/5 "2003-03-04T23:35:38Z")
arghhh. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-fired/159085/6 "2003-03-05T00:58:33Z")
No, no, no. You’re all wrong. The explanation is not very complicated. “Fired” is a play on words that turns around the multivalent meaning of _discharge_. To “charge” could mean… > [@](#): > > **1. To impose a duty, responsibility, or obligation on: _charged him with the task of watching the young swimmers_.** (in other words, to give somebody a job of work) … or … > [@](#): > > **6. To load (a gun or other firearm) with a quantity of explosive: _charged the musket with powder_.** (definitions from the _American Heritage Dictionary_.) So _discharge_ could mean either: —set off the explosive in the firearm (i.e. _fire_ the gun); or —dismiss the worker from their job. To _discharge_ originally had both meanings, but to _fire_ originally meant only shooting off the gun. Through wordplay the verb to _fire_ was transferred to the other meaning of _discharge_. Get it? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-fired/159085/7 "2003-03-05T01:31:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RealityChuck \* > \*\ ***Mjollnir** – the OED says your derivation is “unlikely.” \*\* You must have a more up-to-date version. Mine is the original dating from the 1920s, and I definitely go that impression from the description. Hmmm. . . . It’s only about a century old. Maybe I need to upgrade.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-fired/159085/8 "2003-03-05T16:35:40Z")
Answer: Jumping to conclusions Yep. I misread. There in black and white. The last entry (#16–I stopped reading at #8), with the “disclaimer” _US slang_. US _slang_??? As Dr. Zachary Smith would sayIn-deed!