86 (term)

"86","86'd", "86ed", or eighty-sixed when used as a verb in American English, is a slang term for refusing service or getting rid of something.

Use of term

According to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, "86" is a slang term that is used in the American popular culture as a transitive verb to mean throw out or get rid of, particularly in the food service industry as a term to describe an item no longer available on the menu, or to refuse service to a customer.

Etymology

The origin of the term 86ed is not clear, although some point to the bar Chumley's at 86 Bedford Street in the West Village of Lower Manhattan, as a source. The 2006 book "The History and Stories of the Best Bars of New York" by author Jef Klein tells the story that, when the police would very kindly call ahead before a [prohibition-era] raid, they'd tell the bartender to '86' his customers, meaning they should scram out the 86 Bedford door, while the police would come to the Pamela Court entrance.

The Merriam Webster dictionary suggests the term is also may be associated with the word "nix" ("no" or a more general prohibition).

The first documented use of the term is in the song "Boogie Woogie Blue Plate" by Louis Jordan, which hit number one in 1947 on the US R&B Billboard carts. In the song about a waitress putting customer orders into the short-order cook; "You can hear her putting in orders like this, ... 86 on the cherry pies". This is just one of many examples of short-order restaurant lingo.

Whether it was the catalyst that propelled '86' into American culture, or just helped reinforce it, Gore Vidal's play Visit to a Small Planet was a well-received comedy whose main character uses the command number "86" numerous times to destroy things. The play was first shown on the Goodyear Television Playhouse in 1955 as a television play. In February 1957, it was released on New York City's Broadway as a very popular, Tony Award winning play, with actor Eddie Mayehoff, which ran for 388 performances at the Booth Theatre Thereafter, the play was released as a movie: Visit to a Small Planet, starring Jerry Lewis, was released in late 1960, and re-released in 1966 on a double billing. Lewis played the part of Kreton, an alien with special powers. To activate his powers, he used number commands, one of which was 86, and that destroyed things. He kills a plant by saying "eighty-six" and later threatens to kill someone with the same command number.

Another probable source of origin is from the U.S. Navy's Allowance Type (AT) coding system used for logistic purposes. The Allowance Type Code is a single digit numeric code which identifies the reason material is being carried in stock. Throughout the life-cycle of a warship, many pieces of equipment will be upgraded or replaced, requiring the allowance of onboard spare parts associated to the obsolete equipment to be disposed of. The AT code assigned to parts designated for disposition is AT-6.[8] Following WWII, there were a great number of warships being decommissioned, sold, scrapped, or deactivated and placed in reserve (commonly referred to as "mothballed"). During this process, labor workers would bring spare parts up from the storerooms and the Lead Supply Clerk would inform them what the disposition of their parts were by part number. Anything referred to as AT-6 (or by similar phonetic, eighty-six), was to be disposed of in the dumpster. This is where the term became synonymous with throwing something away.

Use of term

According to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, "86" is a slang term that is used in the American popular culture as a transitive verb to mean throw out or get rid of, particularly in the food service industry as a term to describe an item no longer available on the menu, or to refuse service to a customer.

Today, the term "86", and especially its past tense, "86'd" is widely used in American culture and beyond.

• In 1947, the song "Boogie Woogie Blue Plate" by Louis Jordan, one line is "86 on the cherry pies" as one of many examples of short-order restaurant lingo.
• In 1965, the spy spoof TV series Get Smart chose 86 as the number of its bumbling agent protagonist, thus the missions he worked on were "86'd".
• In 1968, when Norman Mailer had a week long party in the East Hamptons, the July 31, The New York Times article; "Mailer Film party Real Bash: 1 Broken Jaw, 2 Bloody Heads" by Anthony Lukas writes; ""He told me, 'You're 86'd,'" Mr. Smith recalled yesterday. This is a barroom phrase that means "you're banned in here."
• In 1973, Thomas Pynchon, in Gravity's Rainbow, used the term "86" in the line "They did finally 86 him out of Massachusetts Bay Colony." (Use of the term by characters in the novel, which takes place in 1944, is anachronistic.)
• In 1975, Charles Bukowski uses the term 86'd in the novel Factotum to describe being outed from a bar, "We were 86'd, walked down the street looking for another bar."
• In the late 1970s, The New York Times columnist Millstein frequently used the term 86'd in his articles. In the October 26, 1977 article, "A Night on the Tiles at Berry's", he writes; "(He'd been 86'd out of another place owned by the Reisdorffs for tweaking a man's nose only a short while before.)", and in the April 26, 1978 article, "Bistro: The View From the Grill; All in a day's work: burgers and Schopenhauer" he writes; "Sometimes somebody who is 86'd, a term that means the person is kicked out ..."
• In 1993, the television series Northern Exposure's "Jaws of Life" episode, John Cullum's character, Holling Vincoeur, owner of the "Brick" bar uses the term "eighty-six" on Chris Stevens (played by John Corbett), who is drunk and is insulting other guests.
• In the 1995 Academy Award nominated film Leaving Las Vegas, the phrase is used by Nicolas Cage's character Ben Sanderson, while at a bar in the middle of the day.

• In the 1995 album Insomniac by Green Day, there was a song called "86" included. The song was written by Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong and has reflected the band being "86'd" from 924 Gilman Street.
• In the 1998 film The X-Files, a bartender informs Agent Mulder that she will no longer serve him drinks by saying, "Looks like 86 is your lucky number."
• In 1999, During an edition of Raw is War, WWF Commissioner Shawn Michaels announced a stipulation of a match between Paul Bearer vs Paul Wight that if anyone interferes in a match then The Undertaker will get "86'ed" to his WWF Championship Match against Steve Austin at that month's pay-per-view Over the Edge
• In Phineas and Ferb, in the Suddenly Suzy episode, Isabella told Bufford to 86 the gum before he went on the log flume ride that they built.
• Also in Codename: Kids Next Door cartoon, one of the children agents has codename 86, and is the grumpy head of the decommissioning center, thus having the job of eighty-sixing the other children agents.
• In Mark Romanek's 2002 movie One Hour Photo, the customer number system is at 86 just before Robin Williams's character is fired.
• In 2008, in Unalaska, Alaska, the sign outside of the Unisea bar read "If you fight on these premises, you will be 86'd for an indefinite period of time."
• In a July 16, 2009 Chicago Tribune article; "Sweet & Savories restaurant pares prices but not the flavor", by food critic Phil Vettel writes, "You'll always find steak frites on the menu, and I imagine if Richards 86'd the lobster risotto there would be rioting."
• In the 2009 book "86'd: A Novel (P.S.)" by Dan Fante is about a man who gets fired and battles his alcoholism.
• In a February 2, 2010 article in The New York Times, Columnist Glenn Collins quoted the Pegu Club's owner as saying; "... she immediately "86'd the Earl Gray" – ceased serving it – because of the seriousness of the violation and because the inspector recommended..."
• On the January 30th, 2012 edition of WWE Raw, CM Punk told John Laurinaitis he couldn't wait for Triple H to "86 him". Laurianitis's job as interim general manager of Raw was up for review that night, and Triple H, being the COO, had the power to fire him.
• Poker player Doyle Brunson claims that the term originated from the old days of Las Vegas, referring to the mob's practice of taking someone to the desert outside Las Vegas and executing him – "8 miles out and 6 feet down".
• In the musical Little Shop Of Horrors, during the song "Feed Me", the plant, Audrey 2, says "There must be someone you can 86? Real quiet like..." while trying to convince Seymour to bring the plant more blood to eat.
• In her song "I'll Never Forget You", British singer Birdy sings about "86 Charlie", presumably an ex-boyfriend who was kicked out.

External links

• "eighty-six"="nix" Yaelf.com, the alt.usage.english FAQ