can vt.
To abort a job on a time-sharing system. Used esp. when the
person doing the deed is an operator, as in "canned from the
console". Frequently used in an
imperative sense, as in "Can that print job, the LPT just popped
a sprocket!" Synonymous with gun. It is
said that the ASCII character with mnemonic CAN (0011000) was
used as a kill-job character on some early OSes. Alternatively,
this term may derive from mainstream slang `canned' for being
laid off or fired.