get the bum's rush

1. To be hastily and forcefully removed from a place. Likened to the ejection of a vagrant (a "bum") from a place. We got the bum's rush out of the bar after Joe started drunkenly insulting the bartender. Once I started hinting at my sister's F in Biology, I sure got the bum's rush out of the dining room! If you start fighting with other patrons, you'll definitely get the bum's rush from one of the bouncers.

2. proverb To be peremptorily or abruptly dismissed, due to a failed or rejected plan, idea, or performance. I brought up the possibility of reducing managerial pay to other employees, but that idea quickly got the bum's rush. I can't believe I got the bum's rush after five loyal years on the job!

give (one) the bum's rush

1. To hastily and forcefully remove someone from a place. Likened to the ejection of a vagrant (a "bum") from a place. The bartender gave us the bum's rush after Joe started drunkenly insulting him. Once I started hinting at my sister's F in Biology, she sure gave me the bum's rush out of the dining room! If you start fighting with other patrons, one of the bouncers will definitely give you the bum's rush.

2. To peremptorily or abruptly dismiss someone, due to a failed or rejected plan, idea, or performance. The board of directors gave me the bum's rush when I suggested that managers should face a pay cut alongside the other employees. I can't believe the boss gave me the bum's rush after five years on the job! Would you please seriously consider my proposal? Don't just give me the bum's rush.

bum's rush, to give/get the

To throw someone (be thrown) out. The term, American and dating from the 1920s, comes from the practice of bartenders and bouncers throwing out customers who are drunk and unruly, unlikely to pay their bills, or otherwise considered a disturbance. The expression may also be related to another meaning of bum—backside—in that such evictions are often physical and may indeed involve a kick in the pants, or worse. In 1925 Liam O’Flaherty wrote (in The Informer), “They might give him ‘the bum’s rush,’ breaking his neck silently.”