【原】get the boot 不要理解为”拿到靴子“，它有意想不到的的意思

Get the boot 的字面意思是”拿到靴子“，但就像 heads will roll 跟 heads 没有关系一样，get the boot 跟 boot 也没有任何关系，它被用作其他的比喻。

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heads will roll    被解雇：

The group's problems have led to speculation that heads will roll. 

已经有人猜测，该集团的问题会导致一些人被解雇。

The editor and the reporter both knew that heads were going to roll in the banking world as soon as tomorrow’s edition hit the stands.

编辑和记者都知道，明天的报纸一登上看台，银行界就会有人被解雇。

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Get the boot/sack/axe 和 heads will roll 有类似的意思，用来比喻人被解雇，相当于 fire，dismiss 或 discharge 等，或它的另外一个变体 boot out，例如：

1. get the boot 相当于 fire

If you can’t do your job properly, you’re going to get the sack.

如果你不能做好你的工作，你会被解雇的。

He got the boot for stealing money from the firm.

他因偷公司的钱而被解雇。

The engineer who was with the office for the last 20 years was shocked when he got the boot for a minor mistake.

这位工作了20年的工程师因一个小错误而被解雇，他感到震惊。

You can get the sack for your poor performance.

你会因为你的糟糕表现而被解雇。

She was booted out of her highly paid job.

她被解除了高薪工作。

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Get the boot 还可以表示被抛弃或被驱赶等，它还有其他的的变体短语动词 kick out 和 boot out 等，例如：

kick out:

I had to kick the dogs out for a while because they were getting mud all over the house.

我不得不把狗赶出去一会儿，因为它们把房子弄得到处都是泥。

The movie theater kicked out that guy for sneaking food inside.

电影院把那个偷吃东西的家伙赶出去了。

boot sb out (of sth):

The owner booted them out of the restaurant for being loud and disorderly.

店主把他们赶出餐馆，因为他们吵吵闹闹。

Maria has to get up early tomorrow morning, so she booted us out before 9 PM.

玛丽亚明天早上得早起，所以她在晚上9点前把我们赶了出去。

2. fire/sack 表示因某人犯错或为了节约成本而强迫某人离职，

We had to fire him for dishonesty.

因为他不诚实，我们不得不开除他。

She was sacked for refusing to work on Sundays.

她因拒绝在星期天上班被解雇了。

3. dismiss 表示正式让某人离职，特别是某人做了错事

She claims she was unfairly dismissed from her post.

她声称自己被无理免职。

He has been dismissed from his job for incompetence.

他因不胜任而被辞退了。

4. discharge 表示正式或强迫某人离职

She was discharged from the police force for bad conduct.

她因行为不轨从警察队伍中被解雇。

The judge discharged the jury and ordered a retrial.

法官解除了陪审团的职务，下令重审。

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类似的表示解雇的短语、短语动词或习语还有很多，常见的还有 make sb redundant，lay sb off 或 pink slip 等，例如：

make sb redundant:

To keep the company alive half the workforce is being made redundant.

为让公司生存下去，一半员工要被解雇。

lay sb off:

Because of falling orders, the company has been forced to lay off several hundred workers.

由于订单减少，公司被迫解雇了几百名工人。

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短语动词 lay off 对应的名词也 layoff 也可以表示解雇或裁员的意思，例如：

The recent economic crisis has led to massive layoffs.

最近的经济危机导致了大规模裁员。

pink slip:

Management started issuing pink slips yesterday.

管理层昨天开始发放解雇通知书。

要认清这些常见的表示解雇或被解雇的表达方式，以免日后被开除了还蒙在鼓里。

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词或词组辨析：

1. speculation [ˌspekjuˈleɪʃn] 意为”推测，猜测；投机买卖，炒股“

2. massive [ˈmæsɪv] 意为”巨大的“等