2832
The example sentences in [WWWJDIC](http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi-
bin/wwwjdic.cgi?1MUE%E3%81%8F%E3%81%B3) all use the word "首" in the "fire"
sense (e.g. 彼を首にしてやる) hence I was wondering is the term only used to refer to
"firing" someone?

Or is it also used to refer to students who have just graduated and not yet
found a job (they have never had a job before so they can't be fired can
they)?
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-08-25T00:24:25.660
2831
2011-08-25T03:30:32.283
264
question
usage vocabulary meaning
Can 首 be used to refer to students who have just graduated and not  yet found a job?
No, you can't use 首 to refer to students who have just graduated and don't
have a job yet.

Pardon me if I am incorrect here, but I think maybe you think that "首にする"
means "turn (someone) into a 首", and so 首 is an idiom for "unemployed person"
or something. [Edit: My apologies, it looks like you were just taking the word
of EDICT, which (wrongly, I think) makes exactly this claim.] This is not the
case, though. "首にする" ultimately comes from the metaphor of beheading (!) and
although it can be extended to other forms (もう首だろう etc.), it only refers to
the act of firing/being fired, not to the result (being unemployed). So, it is
not relevant to recent graduates... or any unemployed person, actually, except
insofar as you can talk about their past: "She was fired in May," etc.)
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-08-25T01:14:26.800
2832
2011-08-25T03:30:32.283
2011-08-25T03:30:32.283
531
531
2831
answer