To 86 a menu item might mean that it is temporarily unavailable, usually because a primary ingredient has run out. For example, if the special of the night is sea bass and the kitchen is out of sea bass, the wait-staff might be told to “86 the sea bass.” This tells them to let the customers know that the sea bass is no longer available.
Where did the term ‘86’ originate?
It is possible that 86 developed because it rhymed with the word nix, which means to cancel. Another story relates to a bar in New York City name Chumley’s. The bar is located at 86 Bedford Street. According to legend, unruly patrons would be thrown out onto the street, where they would see the 86 over the bar door.
What does 86D mean in a restaurant?
Aug 21, 2016 · Answer has 4 votes. Answer: Its original origin can't precisely be identified. The term eighty-six is restaurant/bar slang for an item that is out of stock or a customer that is to be denied service. The origin is obscure. The earliest clear reference is to the February 1936 issue of American Speech; it was undoubtedly in existence before that.
What does 86 mean in liquor laws?
Mar 10, 2009 · The meaning of 86 advanced by the restaurant code hypothesis presents it as an announcement that an eatery has run out of a particular item, whereas the usage people are familiar with positions 86...
What does Article 86 mean in the military?
Nov 22, 2000 · Supposedly, during Prohibition, when they were a speakeasy and were raided by the police, the workers would sometimes yell out "86!" meaning to leave the bar via the 86 Bedford Street entrance.

What does 86 mean and why?
Eighty-six is slang meaning "to throw out," "to get rid of," or "to refuse service to." It comes from 1930s soda-counter slang meaning that an item was sold out.
What does 86 mean in slang?
The term 86, or eighty-six, is an American English slang term used to indicate that you should halt or nix something. The term is used primarily in restaurants and bars in regard to items on their menu. However, it can also be used to indicate that a person is not welcome at the establishment.
What does 86 mean?
Eighty-six or 86 is American English slang used to indicate that an item is no longer available, traditionally from a food or drinks establishment; or referring to a person or people who are not welcome in the premises.
What is Agent 86's code?
David B. Feinberg 's first novel, Eighty-sixed (1989), refers to "the gay community wiped out by AIDS ". It won Feinberg the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Men's Fiction and the American Library Association Gay/Lesbian Award for Fiction.
What is the ANSI number for a lockout?
In electrical engineering, an ANSI device number "86" is used to automatically deenergize and lock out a piece of equipment. This was used as early as 1928 when it was published in ANSI Standard No. 26.
When was the OED used?
The OED gives examples of usage from 1933 to 1981. For example, from The Candidate, in which the media adviser said to Robert Redford, "OK, now, for starters, we got to cut your hair and eighty-six the sideburns ".
Where was 95 coded?
Professor Harold Bentley of Columbia University studied soda jerk jargon and reported other numeric codes such as 95 for a customer leaving without paying. Author Jef Klein theorized that the bar Chumley's at 86 Bedford Street in the West Village of Lower Manhattan was the source.
Who is the author of 86-Eighty Six?
In the Japanese light novel, 86 -Eighty Six- (2017 –) by Asato Asato, the Eighty-Six are people whose rights were taken away and relegated into internment camps in the unofficial 86th District by the Republic of San Magnolia, treated as sub-human. They are forced to fight in the war against the Giadian Empire.
What did the police call Chumley's bar?
His book The History and Stories of the Best Bars of New York claims that the police would call Chumley's bar during prohibition before making a raid and tell the bartender to "86" his customers, meaning that they should exit out the 86 Bedford Street door, while the police would come to the Pamela Court entrance.
How deep is 86'd?
Perhaps the birth of this phrase occurred in death? The last time you can be “86’d” might be when they put you under the ground, as most standard graves are 8 feet long and 6 feet deep.
What happens when a bartender notices a patron has drank too much of the 100 proof?
When a bartender noticed that a patron had drank too much of the 100 proof, they would scale back and serve them the 86 proof. According to some theories, in bar lingo, that person would have been “86’d.”.
What is the nix in restaurant?
Regardless of whether it was the first to coin the phrase, the restaurant business in the 1930s was one of the main incubators for its usage and development. Believed to be slang for the word nix, it was initially used as a way of saying that the kitchen was out of something, as revealed Walter Winchell’s 1933 newspaper column that featured a “glossary of soda-fountain lingo” used in restaurants during that time, in according to Snopes. It later evolved into a code that restaurants and bars used when they wanted to cut someone off, because they were either rude, broke, or drunk, as in “86 that chump at the end of the bar.”
What does 86 mean in liquor?
To 86 someone is to bar them off your property. The term is mostly used in bars throughout the U.S. There has been lots of speculation as to where the term originated but the most plausible is Article 86 of the New York liquor code which gives the reasons a person may be removed from a bar.
What does 86 mean?
One of the many oddball terms that has crept into the English language in the past century is a peculiarly inexplicable one: the verbal shortform of ’86’ to mean ‘to dismiss or quash,’ ‘to bar entry or further service to,’ and even ‘to kill.’ While its uses have come to be widespread (one can say that the bank 86’d your scheme to have it underwrite the start-up costs of your business venture, or that a friend who made a spectacle of himself in a bar was 86’d from the place, or that a Mob boss had a particularly troublesome competitor 86’d), the origin of this now omnibus term remains obscure:
What does 86 mean in a restaurant?
The term 86 (to get rid of someone or something) entered the English language as part of a restaurant code.
Where did the term "86" come from?
The most widely accepted theory of the term’s origin states it derives from a code supposedly used in some restaurants in the 1930s, wherein 86 was a shortform among restaurant workers for ‘We’re all out of it.’.
What is 86 on the ANSI list?
Similarly, the American National Standards Institute’s (ANSI) list of Standard Device Numbers gets looked to by some because its item # 86 is the lockout relay, a mechanism used to shut down an electrical system when things go haywire.
What does 86 mean?
According to the Urban Dictionary, ’86’ means to remove or get rid of something or someone. This is the most commonly used definition and the one that has been used by social media users.
Where does the word "86" come from?
Some would often use ’86’ to say that they’ve run out of something in the kitchen. Then according to other reports, the term comes from the prohibition era in the United States. Urban Dictionary writes that ’86’ refers to the New York City bar Chumley’s which is located on 86 Bedford Street.
Is 86 a trend?
It doesn’t take too long for a new trend to become viral and once it gains popularity, it gets thousands of likes, retweets and views. Now, the term ’86’ is trending online and quite naturally, people want to know more about the term’s origin, definition and how it has become a trend.
What does 86 mean in a menu?
To 86 a menu item might mean that it is temporarily unavailable, usually because a primary ingredient has run out. For example, if the special of the night is sea bass and the kitchen is out of sea bass, the wait-staff might be told to “86 the sea bass.”. This tells them to let the customers know that the sea bass is no longer available.
What does 86 mean in restaurant?
This usage has also found its way into common parlance. When you 86’d or you are told to 86 it, in a restaurant, it can mean a couple of different things. For more unusual words see Another Word A Day: An All-New Romp through Some of the Most Unusual and Intriguing Words in English.
What does 86 mean in scallops?
The latter makes it seem as if business is booming and the scallops were popular and tasty. 86 doesn’t only mean that the kitchen is out of an ingredient, it also means to “get rid of something.”. So, if something has gone bad and a kitchen staffer is told to “86 it,” this means to throw it out.
What does 86 mean in teletype?
Old-time newspapers used number codes at the bottom of teletype sheets to indicate what was to be done with the copy. 86 would mean to be discarded , 86 was printed at the bottom. Referred to the 86th precinct in New York city, where cops were sent when they weren’t cutting the mustard.
What is the shaving powder in the Old West called?
Referred to people jumping off the 86’th floor of the Empire State building to commit suicide. Came from a shaving powder in the Old West called “Old Eighty Six,” a pinch of which would be placed in a trouble-makers drink, to send him running from the saloon with a case of the runs.
Where did the word "86 soup" come from?
A couple of possible origins are suggested by the Culinary Institute of America 1: 86 may come from the depression era when soup pots held 85 cups of soup. When the pot was empty, “86 soup” was called out.
Is 86 proof alcohol good for drunk?
Since alcohol served was usually 100 proof, the over-drunk patron would be served a slightly weaker 86 proof. This makes little sense, of course, as the 86 proof liquor would be quite enough to keep him drunk and get him drunker.
What does 86 mean?
Explanations even stretch as far as the electrical industry, where devices had numbers—a 27 was an undervoltage relay, 43 was a selector switch, and an 86 was a trip and lockout device, so an 86 operation means the affected piece of equipment was out of service. Another theory says that the term originated with the number codes used by soda jerks: ...
Where did the number 86 come from?
Others say it originated at Delmonico's Restaurant in NYC. Number 86 on their menu was a steak, the most popular item on the menu and one that often sold out. The term morphed into shorthand for being out of any item.
What was the proof of alcohol in the Old West?
Alcohol in the Old West was 100 proof. When a patron would get too drunk, the barkeep would serve him a less potent, 86 proof liquor, thereby 86’ing him. . . The term may have come from Old Eighty-Six, a popular shaving powder in the old days. A pinch of that in a rowdy cowboy’s drink apparently would have him heading for the door.
Where did Chumley's drink originate?
A pinch of that in a rowdy cowboy’s drink apparently would have him heading for the door. Perhaps its origin lies in New York. Many stories back this up. There was a speakeasy bar at 86 Bedford Street in Greenwich Village called Chumley's, with no address on the door and several hidden exits.
Is 86 a dark filter?
The mythical 86 filter would therefore be totally dark, and completely negate the image being photographed, 86 it. There are those who claim the term refers to 86 inches, the standard depth of a grave in the U.S. So to 86 something is to bury it. Perhaps it was a holdover from the days when news was delivered via teletype.
What does 86 mean?
86. meaning to be kicked out or banned. the true origin has nothing to do with military graves or the year 1886, whoever mentioned the prohibition bar with the address of 86 is the correct one. I got 86ed from the Orleans Casino after stealing a shit load of stuff. by visual77 September 28, 2003. Flag.
Where did the word "86" come from?
The idea that it came from Chumley's, the speakeasy at 86 Bedford St. in Greenwich Village, NYC. Stanley Chumley opened this restaurant in 1928, and many people refer to it's prohibition-era activities as the origin for the term 86 (there are several variations on this).
What does "run out" mean?
1. To run out of a menu item. 2. To end, stop, or cut off. 3. To get rid of (usually in reference to a person, often a coworker...sometimes viewed jokingly as a euphimism for killing them) Note- although there are several theories as to the origin of this term, one common misconception has been debunked.

Restaurant Lingo
Eighty-six or 86 is American English slang used to indicate that an item is no longer available, traditionally from a food or drinks establishment; or referring to a person or people who are not welcome in the premises. Its etymology is unknown but seems to have been coined in the 1920s or 1930s.
The term is now more generally used to mean getting rid of someone or something. In the 1970…
Prohibition Era Raids
Calm Down, Cowboy
Eight Feet Long, Six Feet Under