get the sack

get the sack — idiom

Idioms

get the sack

idiom

to lose your job because your employer tells you to leave, often without warning

Daichi got the sack after the factory lost its biggest customer last spring.

If you keep arriving late, Sofia, you might get the sack before the holidays.

Etymology

FrenchEnglish

This phrase comes from the old practice where a worker who was dismissed was handed the bag, or sack, that held their own tools, so they could pack up and leave at once. Over time, getting your sack back came to mean losing your job. The everyday word sack here means a large bag made of strong cloth or paper.