fired by him/canned by him

[GoodTaste]

Here are two headlines expressing the same idea:

1) Who is Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. attorney fired by Trump?
2) Who is Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. attorney canned by Trump?

One uses "fired" and the other "canned" (can here means to dismiss from one's job. Are they rhetorically different? "Fired" sounds a bit more formal than "canned". I am not sure.


(Source: 1) is from CBS News)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/geoffrey-berman-trump-appointee-us-attorney-william-barr/

 

[GoesStation]

When it means "terminated from a job", canned is slang. It's not appropriate for a headline.

You forgot to tell us where headline #2 came from.

 

[tedmc]

Fired (like sacked) is not really formal. Dismissed is formal.
Canned is AmE.

 

[Tarheel]

An American would read that (canned) and probably not think twice about it.