# Question about Khaled Hosseini's ('A Thousand Splendid Suns') use of English **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 9, 2021, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-khaled-hosseinis-a-thousand-splendid-suns-use-of-english/946052 "2021-07-09T02:53:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2021, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-khaled-hosseinis-a-thousand-splendid-suns-use-of-english/946052/1 "2021-07-09T02:53:04Z")
I recently came across the following on page 326 of ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ (paperback). “Fired from the restaurant in Taimani because customers complained about the long waits, Rasheed said the cook was slow and lazy.” I have never come across the use of ‘fired’ in this way and have not seen any definitions that fit this usage. Is it a strange usage of the term? Should the term ‘fired’ be used in this way? ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2021, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-khaled-hosseinis-a-thousand-splendid-suns-use-of-english/946052/2 "2021-07-09T03:12:47Z")
> [@Octagon](#): > > I have never come across the use of ‘fired’ in this way and have not seen any definitions that fit this usage. Eh? As a synonym for terminated? Of course - [third definition](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fired). ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2021, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-khaled-hosseinis-a-thousand-splendid-suns-use-of-english/946052/3 "2021-07-09T03:13:00Z")
Fired. Retrenched. Sacked. Laid off. He blamed someone else. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2021, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-khaled-hosseinis-a-thousand-splendid-suns-use-of-english/946052/4 "2021-07-09T03:19:39Z")
American English “fired” = British English “sacked”. Americans almost never say or write “sacked” to mean “terminated from employment”. I had thought “fired” had infrequent usage in British English to mean “terminated from employment”, but perhaps not. ---
**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2021, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-khaled-hosseinis-a-thousand-splendid-suns-use-of-english/946052/5 "2021-07-09T03:22:34Z")
In the example I quoted from the book, ‘fired’ it means ejected from the restaurant. I have never seen this definition for fired before. ---
**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2021, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-khaled-hosseinis-a-thousand-splendid-suns-use-of-english/946052/6 "2021-07-09T03:24:15Z")
Rasheed himself is a customer in this context, not an employee. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2021, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-khaled-hosseinis-a-thousand-splendid-suns-use-of-english/946052/7 "2021-07-09T03:35:05Z")
> [@Octagon](#): > > Fired from the restaurant in Taimani because customers complained about the long waits, Rasheed said the cook was slow and lazy. Here’s some more of the text … it really reads to me as Rasheed is an employee. A waiter, specifically: > [Rasheed] got fired from the kebab house near Haji Yaghoub Square because he and a customer got into a scuffle. The customer complained that Rasheed had rudely tossed the bread on his table. Harsh words had passed. Rasheed had called the customer a monkey-faced Uzbek. A gun had been brandished. A skewer pointed in return. In Rasheed’s version, he held the skewer. Mariam had her doubts. > > Fired from the restaurant in Taimani because customers complained about the long waits, Rasheed said the cook was slow and lazy. > > “You were probably out back napping,” said Laila. > > “Don’t provoke him, Laila jo,” Mariam said. > > “I’m warning you, woman,” he said. > > “Either that or smoking.” > > “I swear to God.” > > “You can’t help being what you are.” ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2021, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-khaled-hosseinis-a-thousand-splendid-suns-use-of-english/946052/8 "2021-07-09T03:39:02Z")
redacted. ---
**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2021, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-khaled-hosseinis-a-thousand-splendid-suns-use-of-english/946052/9 "2021-07-09T03:39:33Z")
You are correct. My mistake. Fired makes sense now. Thanks.