[General] can (v) = imprison

[vil]

Dear teachers,

Would you be kind enough to tell me whether I am right with my interpretation of the expression in bold in the following sentence from Steinbeck’s ”Of Mice and Men”?

[FONT=&quot]He'd slough me. He just don't give a damn. Won't ever get canned because his old man's the boss.[/FONT]

can = prison
can (v) = imprison

Thank you for your efforts.

Regards,

V.

 

[LiuJing]

I am not a teacher. However, 'get canned' here seems to mean 'get fired' or 'lose his job'.

 

[sarat_106]

Dear teachers,

Would you be kind enough to tell me whether I am right with my interpretation of the expression in bold in the following sentence from Steinbeck’s ”Of Mice and Men”?

[FONT=&quot]He'd slough me. He just don't give a damn. Won't ever get canned because his old man's the boss.[/FONT]

can = prison
can (v) = imprison

Thank you for your efforts.

Regards,

V.

Yes, as a noun ‘can’ has several meanings such as ‘prison’, ‘container’, ‘toilet’ etc but I don't think, you can use it as verb by referring to one of them. According to dictionary, its verbal meaning is: to dismiss; to fire, which looks appropriate here.

 

[vil]

Hi LuiJang and sarat106,

Thank you for your contribution. I agree with your statement concerning the meaning of the phrase get canned = Get the boot, get the axe, canned, terminated, dismissed, laid-off, ...There are many examples of the suchlike usage in common English.

And yet, there is in my dictionary (Bulgarian-English Dictionary-1975) the following entry:
imprison = mew up = wall in = can (American slang)

I am addicted of unaccustomed usage of the words. Sometimes out of place.

Thank you again for your kindness.

Regards,

V.

 

[Tdol]

In BrE we can use bin in the same way- He got binned = He was sacked, They binned him, etc.