SHAKESPEARE'S SLANG.
Who first talked about "firing" people, meaning to dismiss them, or throw them out? Probably 99 out of a hundred Australians would reply decisively: "It is modern American slang." They would be wrong. Mr. W. F. Jackson, president of the Shakespearean Society, in an address recently, pointed out that the expression went back to Shakespeare. One of the famous "Dark Lady" sonnets, which he quoted, concludes with the line, "Till my bad angel fire my good one out." Henceforward, maybe, the man who says that he has been "fired" will be able to claim, on the highest authority, that his language is entirely elegant.
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Bibliographic details
Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 78, 3 April 1926, Page 16
Word Count
106SHAKESPEARE'S SLANG. Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 78, 3 April 1926, Page 16
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