Learn English – What does the slang word “can” mean

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What does the slang word can mean in the following sentences:

  • Hey guys, do you know where the can is around here?

  • I can't make make it to the phone; tell them I am in the can.

  • Finally, our planning is in the can and we can begin construction tomorrow.

After googling for an hour, I found out that the word "can" is used for toilet.

From the first 2 sentences above, I understand that a stranger in a new place was trying to find out where the toilet was, and then he went inside the toilet.

The 3rd sentence is a little confusing to me.

What was someone trying to say in the last sentence?

Best Answer

The first two mean toilet or bathroom.

The noun can also means

a metal or plastic container for holding film on cores or reels.

When filming is finished, the film will be put into the can. Therefore, in the can means completed.

[Dictionary.Reference.Com]

In the can:

Completed, as in about a hundred pages of her next book are in the can. This usage originated in filmmaking to describe a completed motion picture, when film was literally put into a can or canister. [Slang; c. 1930]

[The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms]

Your example:

Finally, our planning is completed and we can begin construction tomorrow.

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