hand someone their cards

present singular third person hands someone their cards · participle present handing someone their cards · participle past handed someone their cards · past handed someone their cards · alternative give someone his cards

1. IrelandUKidiomaticslangTo dismiss someone from employment; to fire or make redundant.

   I was handed my cards yesterday and so today I’m looking for a new job.

   2020 October 16, Salmi Khan Anmol, The Oldman’s English Lessons: An English Book, page 1667

   2 more examples

   To begin with, you were not sacked; it was you who gave notice.[…]Upon which he handed me my cards and my wages.

   1950, Miklos Laszlo, And the Snow Falls: A Play in Three Acts, page 29

   Now they say that times are hard and they’ve handed me my cards. They say there’s not the work to go around. And when the whistle blows, the gates will finally close. Tonight they’re going to shut this factory down. Then they’ll tear it d-o-w-n

   1985, “Ordinary Man”, in Ordinary Man, performed by Christy Moore, produced by Dónal Lunny