Entry in progress—B.P.
Wiktionary
Verb
shitcan (third-person singular simple present shitcans, present participle shitcanning, simple past and past participle shitcanned)
1. (vulgar, transitive) To discard
2. (vulgar, transitive) To terminate the employment of.
(OXford English Dictionary)
,i>shitcan, v.
coarse slang (chiefly N. Amer.).
1. trans.
a. To dismiss or discharge (a person) from a position; to fire. Cf. can v.3 2a.
1961 J. Peacock Valhalla iii. 65 Soon’s I fuck up enough to get shitcanned you’ll take over the company as gunnery sarjint.
b. To reject or put a stop to. Cf. can v.3 2b.
1973 T. Crouse Boys on Bus i. v. 100 Chances are, he’s having a go-round with some editor out there who’s just shit-canned one of his articles.
Google Books
The Boys on the Bus
By Timothy Crouse
New York, NY: Random House
1973
Pg. 100:
“Chances are,” the reporter said, nodding toward Witcover, “chances are, he’s having a go-round with some editor out there who’s just shit-canned one of his articles.”
Google Books
Kesey’s Garage Sale
By Ken Kesey
New York, NY: Viking Press
1973
Pg. 82:
REX: The starter can be shitcanned as well!
Google Books
Nielsen’s Children
by James Brady
New York, NY: Putnam
1978
Pg. 135:
That if one of the anchorpersons had to be “shitcanned” it would be Chester Albany.
Google Books
The Routledge Dictionary of Modern American Slang and Unconventional English
Edited by Tom Dalzell
New York, NY: Routledge
2009
Pg. 865:
shitcan verb
to throw something away; to discharge someone from employment US, 1975
Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.
Recent entries:
•
“I prefer my guns the way Democrats prefer their voters..undocumented and untraceable” (3/21)
•
“Using cash is like telling the government what you buy is none of their fucking business” (3/21)
•
“Men who say women belong in the kitchen obviously don’t know what to do with them in the bedroom” (3/21)
•
“You don’t have a valentine for Valentine’s Day? I don’t have a groundhog for Groundhog Day” (3/21)
•
“If the government cannot protect the vote, the border or its citizens, the why do we have one?” (3/21)
More new entries...
Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Google Maps.
Above, John J. Fitz Gerald, from the Aug. 15, 1931, Binghamton (NY) Press, pg. 14.
Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce "The Big Apple," a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.
Also listen to a 1937 "The Big Apple" song by Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra. See a 1929 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald and a 1931 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald.
This site is edited by Barry Popik.