<P> Pink slip refers to the American practice, by a human resources department, of including a discharge notice in an employee's pay envelope to notify the worker of his or her termination of employment or layoff . </P> <P> The "pink slip" has become a metonym for the termination of employment in general . According to an article in The New York Times, the editors of the Random House Dictionary have dated the term to at least as early as 1910 . </P> <P> The phrase most likely originated in vaudeville . When the United Booking Office (established in 1906) would issue a cancellation notice to an act, the notice was on a pink slip . Another possible etymology is that many applications (including termination papers) are done in triplicate form, with each copy on a different color of paper, one of which is typically pink . </P> <P> In the Chilly Willy cartoon, "little Televillian" Mr. Stoop tells Smedley that if he's disturbed while reading show scripts, he would be forced to pink slip him . Smedley indicates that he doesn't know the meaning of a "pink slip", so Mr. Stoop yells at him: "It means...you will be fired!" </P>

Where does the term pink slip come from