# pink slip

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/pink-slip
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

A notice of termination of employment.

## Examples

- She got a pink slip after ten years at the company.
- You worry about getting a pink slip when the economy is bad.
- The manager called him into the office and handed him a pink slip without any warning.
- If the airline continues to lose money, thousands of pilots might receive a pink slip by the end of the quarter.
- When the factory closed, hundreds of workers received pink slips on the same bleak December morning.

## Origin

From *pink* + *slip*, denoting a piece of paper. The term refers to the hue of the document, a convention which persists in the name regardless of whether the physical paper remains that colour in modern practice. In the context of an automobile title, the term is most likely from California. In that state, the legal title was historically printed on a small, index-card sized piece of pink paper. In most other states, the equivalent document is typically a full-size sheet of blue or blue-green paper featuring borders similar to those found on a stock certificate.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.