(See also REJECTION.)

the bum’s rush The forcible removal or expulsion of a person, usually from a public place, especially by lifting him by the shirt collar and the seat of his pants to a walking position and propelling him toward the door; an abrupt dismissal; the sack. The image evoked is of the way a bum, having had too much to drink, is unceremoniously “escorted” to the door of a bar. A synonymous American slang term is French walk. Eugene O’Neill uses the phrase in The Hairy Ape (1922):

fire To discharge someone from a job, usually suddenly and unexpectedly. This expression derives from fire in the ballistic sense of ejecting violently and forcefully just as a bullet is fired from a gun.

get (or give [someone]) the sack To be dismissed, fired, or expelled. This expression may have originated from the ancient Roman custom of eliminating undesirables by drowning them in sacks. Figuratively, the phrase often implies that the grounds for a person’s dismissal are justifiable.

give [someone] running shoes To discharge an employee; to end a business association; to jilt a suitor. The figurative use of this expression implies that the dismissed person should make a speedy departure.

go fly a kite Go away; get lost; buzz off. Similar to other trite insults (such as go jump in the lake, go play in traffic, and dry up and blow away), go fly a kite is used as a command, usually issued with disdain, ordering someone to leave. Whereas the contemptuous element of the other phrases is transparent, precisely why flying a kite should carry the same scorn remains puzzling. Attempts to relate go fly a kite with fly a kite (see SWINDLING) are unconvincing.

go peddle your papers Get lost, scram, don’t bother me. This imperative put-down implies that the person addressed, suited only for trifling pursuits, is interfering in matters of greater moment. Billy Rose used the expression in a syndicated column in 1949:

go to Jericho Begone; get out of here. The Biblical origin (II Samuel 10:5) of this obsolete expression concerns a group of David’s servants who, having had half their beards shaved off, were banished to Jericho until their beards were presentable. Figuratively, go to Jericho implies a command to go elsewhere and not return until physical or mental growth has occurred, or, more simply, to get lost.

kick upstairs To get rid of someone by promoting him to an ostensibly higher position of greater prestige. This euphemistic expression, dating from at least 1750, implies a correlation between the importance of one’s position and the physical location of one’s office.

pink slip A notice of discharge from employment; notification to a worker that he has been fired or laid off. It has long been the custom of personnel departments to formally notify an employee that he is being discharged by giving him a standard letter of termination. Since such a letter is often enclosed in an envelope with the worker’s paycheck, many companies print the letter on colored (sometimes pink) paper so that it will be readily noticed.

In recent years, pink-slip has sometimes been used as a verb, and its meaning has occasionally been extended to include jocular reference to interpersonal relations, such as the jilting of a sweetheart.

ride on a rail See PUNISHMENT.

send to the showers To reject; to send away or expel; also, knock out of the box. This expression originated in baseball, where a player, removed from the game because of poor performance or rudeness to the umpires, is sent to the locker-room for a shower. In contemporary usage, the phrase usually carries a mild suggestion of castigation or admonishment.

twenty-three skidoo Go away! Hit the road! Make yourself scarce! A rather implausible theory suggests that this expression developed at the turn of the century in New York City. Twenty-third Street was a favorite haunt of the city’s flirtatious dalliers, and the police reputedly dispersed these wolfish loiterers with the command “twenty-three skidoo!” The expression, which caught on in the 1920s, remains associated with that period. At that time twenty-three skidoo was more often a noncommittal greeting or an exclamation of surprise than an order of expulsion. Although general use of the term has significantly declined since its Roaring 20s heyday, it does retain some jocular use.

walk Spanish To physically eject from a public place; to bounce, force, or throw out; to give the sack. Although the exact origin of the phrase is unknown, it is said to refer to the way in which pirates of the Spanish Main compelled their captives to walk the plank. The expression appeared in February, 1815, in the American Republican (Downington, Pa.):

walk the plank To be forced or drummed out of office; to be unceremoniously discharged or compelled to resign. The expression derives from the 17th century pirate practice of forcing blindfolded prisoners to walk off the end of a plank projecting from the side of the vessel in order to dispose of them.