Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

Been there!

The official corporate terminology I am familiar with is “terminated,” “involuntary termination,” “involuntary termination without cause,” “involuntary termination without prejudice.” Also heard and read are “separation,” and “release.”

A lot of this technical jargon is encoding what benefits you are entitled to. Can you collect unemployment? Are you eligible for rehire? Was your job performance satisfactory?

But really, is “termination” supposed to sound neutral?!

Glossary:
terminated = no longer working at the company
voluntary termination = quit or retired and, maybe, bought out
involuntary termination = fired, laid off, canned, sacked, booted, and, maybe, bought out
without cause: performance on the job was satisfactory
with cause: screwed up
without prejudice: can be rehired
with prejudice: cannot be rehired

In some cases, an enhanced voluntary package is offered (”buy out”) then followed by an involuntary sweep in which the same enhanced packed is offered to those who qualify. That is why “bought out” appears in my glossary as sometimes voluntary and sometimes involuntary — although to me “bought out” really only captures the spirit of the voluntary action.

When it happened to me, I felt “fired.” Informally, I would use fired, laid off, let go, booted, canned, sacked, bagged. (Can I be “tinned?”) I would be more careful in my word choice if it was necessary to make the distinction, and depending on who I was talking to.

Now it just feels like “release.”

In these times, I think that unemployment slang would be a great topic for the program!

I'm picturing Sarah Connor saying, "You're terminated," as she crushes my job. I can almost picture The Donald saying, "You're fired with prejudice."

Real life e-mail announcement in March 2009 had the subject of “Reallocation of Responsibilities” with the content detailing how Person X's responsibilities would now be performed by Person Y. There was the traditional extended “transition period” during which Person X never appeared at the office. Of course, we wished Person X well in “future endeavors.”

Here's your coat. What's your hurry? Don't let the door hit you on the way out.