Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Dec 2, 2005 09:02
18 yrs ago
English term
fire
Non-PRO
English
Other
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
I need a rather official word that means 'fire, sacked' (get someone out of the company) Such as in the sentence.
Mr.Smith should obtain permission and approval from senior officer before he can fire me.
Mr.Smith should obtain permission and approval from senior officer before he can fire me.
Responses
| 4 +16 | to dismiss |
Jo Macdonald
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| 4 +6 | terminate |
KNielsen
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| 4 +2 | discharge |
Jack Doughty
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| 4 | dismiss or terminate |
Dan McCrosky (X)
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Responses
+16
31 mins
Jo Macdonald
Spain
Spain
Native in English
&
English
Spain
An expectation of excellence
Native in: English
Works in: Italian to English, Spanish to English, English
Selected
to dismiss
to dismiss (an employee)
Oxford English Dic (you’re fired)
Oxford English Dic (you’re fired)
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Tony M
13 mins
|
| agree |
LJC (X)
45 mins
|
| agree |
Dorota Nowakówna
54 mins
|
| agree |
awilliams
58 mins
|
| agree |
cmwilliams (X)
1 hr
|
| agree |
Yvonne Becker
2 hrs
|
| agree |
airmailrpl
: -
3 hrs
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| agree |
Can Altinbay
4 hrs
|
| agree |
Dave Calderhead
8 hrs
|
| agree |
Alfa Trans (X)
8 hrs
|
| agree |
Will Matter
9 hrs
|
| agree |
Romanian Translator (X)
9 hrs
|
| agree |
NancyLynn
9 hrs
|
| agree |
Alexandra Tussing
18 hrs
|
| agree |
Ivana UK
1 day 11 hrs
|
| agree |
Nikos Mastrakoulis
: Depending on context, of course.
2 days 7 hrs
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Selected automatically based on peer agreement."
+6
18 mins
terminate
I agree with Rita, "fire" is the most commonly used. However, you can also say "terminate me" or "terminate my contract" if you want to be very formal. [It doesn't mean Mr. Smith is a contract killer, btw :-) ]
A euphemism that's commonly used, but from the employer's perspective, is "let go"--as in, "I'm going to have to let you go, Mr. Brown".
A euphemism that's commonly used, but from the employer's perspective, is "let go"--as in, "I'm going to have to let you go, Mr. Brown".
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
awilliams
: you can't say "terminate me", sorry (at least in UKE)
1 hr
|
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Maybe it's only used in N.America? I have heard it before, though it certainly has menacing undertones, as Can alludes to :-)
|
|
| neutral |
Paul Dixon
: Yes, I agree with Amy here.
2 hrs
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| agree |
airmailrpl
: terminate my employment
3 hrs
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Thanks, airmailrpl!
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| agree |
Can Altinbay
: You CAN say terminate me in the US. They don't usually get Ahnold to do it, though. ;-)
4 hrs
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Thanks, Can! ...and a good thing they don't, eh! Though the scenario you describe above is only marginally better, I would say!
|
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| agree |
Lisa Russell
: very common in Human Resources
5 hrs
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Thanks, Lisa!
|
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| agree |
Rebecca Barath
8 hrs
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Thanks, Rebecca!
|
|
| agree |
Will Matter
9 hrs
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Thanks, willmatter!
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| agree |
Alexandra Tussing
18 hrs
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Thanks, Alexandra!
|
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| neutral |
Ivana UK
: While you can't say "Mr X was terminated" you can say "Mr X's employment was terminated" but not very common outwith HR
1 day 11 hrs
|
+2
55 mins
Jack Doughty
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Native in English
&
English
United Kingdom
Translator since 1953
Native in: English
Works in: Russian to English, German to English, English
Related KudoZ points
:
370
discharge
Commonly used to mean this, in the UK anyway.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr 25 mins (2005-12-02 10:28:08 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Can You Be Fired?
An employee who is discharged because of his participation, ... The Workers'
Compensation Law prohibits an employer from discharging a worker because he has ...
www.oag.state.ny.us/labor/fired.html - 13k - 30 Nov 2005 - Cached - Similar pages
Employer Information
Amendment to the Montana Wrongful Discharge From Employment Act – Effective ...
(1) If an employer has committed a wrongful discharge, the employee may be ...
jsd.dli.state.mt.us/local/missoula/msoproject/chapter4_pg129.html - 33k - Cached - Similar pages
Rensselaer at Hartford: Employee Conduct/Disciplinary Discharge ...
Employee Conduct / Disciplinary Discharge Exempt and Nonexempt Staff ...
The discharged employee will be informed of options relative to employee benefits ...
www.rpi.edu/dept/hr/rh_policies/rh_empconduct.html - 18k - 30 Nov 2005
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr 25 mins (2005-12-02 10:28:08 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Can You Be Fired?
An employee who is discharged because of his participation, ... The Workers'
Compensation Law prohibits an employer from discharging a worker because he has ...
www.oag.state.ny.us/labor/fired.html - 13k - 30 Nov 2005 - Cached - Similar pages
Employer Information
Amendment to the Montana Wrongful Discharge From Employment Act – Effective ...
(1) If an employer has committed a wrongful discharge, the employee may be ...
jsd.dli.state.mt.us/local/missoula/msoproject/chapter4_pg129.html - 33k - Cached - Similar pages
Rensselaer at Hartford: Employee Conduct/Disciplinary Discharge ...
Employee Conduct / Disciplinary Discharge Exempt and Nonexempt Staff ...
The discharged employee will be informed of options relative to employee benefits ...
www.rpi.edu/dept/hr/rh_policies/rh_empconduct.html - 18k - 30 Nov 2005
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
LJC (X)
: I would use this for the armed forces, but I don't think that's the context here.
24 mins
|
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I think it's OK for civilian use too, see my added examples. But I admit it may have occurred to me because I was in the RAF for 14 years.
|
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| agree |
Will Matter
: It's acceptable to use this in the U.S. "He was discharged from his position as plant manager".
8 hrs
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Thank you.
|
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| agree |
Nikos Mastrakoulis
: Depending on context, of course.
2 days 6 hrs
|
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Thank you.
|
7 hrs
dismiss or terminate
Both "terminate" and "dismiss" seem to be in use everywhere, but the following research indicates a lot of support for those of you who have indicated there is a difference between .uk and .com (dominated by US companies) usage. Australia tends to follow the UK, but understandably enough, Canada tends to follow the .com usage.
From these Google search results, I would probably choose "terminate" for pure US/Canadian readership, and "dismiss" for UK, mixed, or worldwide usage:
33,900 hits for "terminate an employee" site:.com
336 hits for "terminate an employee" site:.uk
593 hits for "terminate an employee" site:.au
655 hits for "terminate an employee" site:.ca
37 hits for "terminate an employee" site:.ca.us
9,470 hits for "dismiss an employee" site:.com
13,800 hits for "dismiss an employee" site:.uk
12,000 hits for "dismiss an employee" site:.au
544 hits for "dismiss an employee" site:.ca
114 hits for "dismiss an employee" site: ca.us
738 hits for "letter of dismissal" site:.com
537 hits for "letter of dismissal" site:.uk
249 hits for "letter of dismissal" site:.au
245 hits for "letter of dismissal" site:.ca
4 hits for "letter of dismissal" site:ca.us
995 hits for "letter of termination" site:.com
395 hits for "letter of termination" site:.uk
653 hits for "letter of termination" site:.au
476 hits for "letter of termination" site:.ca
29 hits for "letter of termination" site:ca.us
754 hits for "Mr. * was terminated" site:.com
34 hits for "Mr. * was terminated" site:.uk
572 hits for "Mr. * was terminated" site:.au
158 hits for "Mr. * was terminated" site:.ca
1 hit for "Mr. * was terminated" site:.ca.us
523 hits for "Mr. * was dismissed" site:.uk
592 hits for "Mr. * was dismissed" site:.au
282 hits for "Mr. * was dismissed" site:.ca
1 hit for "Mr. * was dismissed" site:.ca.us
From these Google search results, I would probably choose "terminate" for pure US/Canadian readership, and "dismiss" for UK, mixed, or worldwide usage:
33,900 hits for "terminate an employee" site:.com
336 hits for "terminate an employee" site:.uk
593 hits for "terminate an employee" site:.au
655 hits for "terminate an employee" site:.ca
37 hits for "terminate an employee" site:.ca.us
9,470 hits for "dismiss an employee" site:.com
13,800 hits for "dismiss an employee" site:.uk
12,000 hits for "dismiss an employee" site:.au
544 hits for "dismiss an employee" site:.ca
114 hits for "dismiss an employee" site: ca.us
738 hits for "letter of dismissal" site:.com
537 hits for "letter of dismissal" site:.uk
249 hits for "letter of dismissal" site:.au
245 hits for "letter of dismissal" site:.ca
4 hits for "letter of dismissal" site:ca.us
995 hits for "letter of termination" site:.com
395 hits for "letter of termination" site:.uk
653 hits for "letter of termination" site:.au
476 hits for "letter of termination" site:.ca
29 hits for "letter of termination" site:ca.us
754 hits for "Mr. * was terminated" site:.com
34 hits for "Mr. * was terminated" site:.uk
572 hits for "Mr. * was terminated" site:.au
158 hits for "Mr. * was terminated" site:.ca
1 hit for "Mr. * was terminated" site:.ca.us
523 hits for "Mr. * was dismissed" site:.uk
592 hits for "Mr. * was dismissed" site:.au
282 hits for "Mr. * was dismissed" site:.ca
1 hit for "Mr. * was dismissed" site:.ca.us
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
RHELLER
: this is a total waste of space; all kudoz entries are permanent parts of the glossary (yes, I use google all the time but frequency of usage does not imply correctness- you can find hundreds of thousands of spelling mistakes too)
37 mins
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You are, of course, entitled to your opinion. What do you think is the correct answer then, and for what parts of the world?
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| neutral |
Will Matter
: with Rita. In addition, the nuance of the usage of "dominated" could be perceived to be offensive.
2 hrs
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Please excuse my poor choice of words, I should have written "the majority of .com sites are probably US companies".
|
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| neutral |
NancyLynn
: I'm afraid I have to agree with my two colleagues here. Please also note that it is poor form to offer exactly the same answer as others before you; simply agree with them.
3 hrs
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This is by no means "exactly the same answer".
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Discussion