I saw the idiom, “Call it a career” in the article of New York times (May 12) announcing Barbara Waters’ planned retirement in 2014: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/13/business/media/barbara-walters-to-announce-2014-retirement-on-the-view.html?hp&_r=0
“On the program she invented, on the network where she worked for the past 37 years, on the medium where she broke barriers and rules for more than 50 years, Barbara Walters will announce on Monday morning, definitively and with no regrets, that she is calling it a career.
“It’s time,” Ms. Walters said, previewing the announcement she will make to the national television audience watching her daily program, “The View.”
As I was unfamiliar with the phrase, “Call it a career,” I looked for instances of the usage in Google to find a few examples:
1.Gerald Sensabaugh has decided to retire and is signing a one-day contract so that he can call it a career while a member of the Cowboys. -profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/
2.. After 16 NFL seasons, five Pro Bowl selections, a Super Bowl title and 47 career interceptions, Ronde Barber has decided to call it a career. -www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/.../2144715
Now questions:
Are only celebrities and successful people entitled to vocalize “call it a career” when they retire?
Is it out-of-place and ridiculed for an average people like me to say “I ( he /she) ‘called it a career last year (or 15 years ago).” in the same cotext with "call it a day"?