86 (term)

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

Etymology

There are several possible origins of the term 86. In 1928, all electrical components of the power system, then being installed across America, were given standardized numbers to show their functional use on all electrical power system circuit diagrams. In the design of electrical power systems, the ANSI Standard Device Numbers (ANSI/IEEE Standard C37.2) denote what features a protective device supports (such as a relay or circuit breaker). These types of devices protect electrical systems and components from damage when an unwanted event occurs, such as an electrical fault. Device numbers are used to identify the functions of devices shown on a schematic diagram of a substation. Function descriptions are given in the standard. ANSI/IEEE C37.2-2008 is one of a continuing series of revisions of the standard, which originated in 1928. An 86 device is a LOCKOUT breaker. Linemen and other power system technicians familiar with the term were working their way across America as the country was electrified. The term "being 86'd" could have originated from their tendency to be 86ed (thrown out or locked out) of bars or other establishments. ^{[citation needed]}

Another possible 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 that 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. Following World War II, 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.^[1]

Author Jeff Klein points 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 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 song "Boogie Woogie Blue Plate" by Louis Jordan hit number one in 1947 on the US R&B Billboard charts. He sings about a waitress, "You can hear her putting in orders like this, ... 86 on the cherry pies..", restaurant lingo for being out of an item.^[2]

The Merriam Webster dictionary suggests the term may be associated with the word "nix" ("no" or a more general prohibition).^[3]

The term 86'd may also be associated with the Empire State Building. The first or lower elevators only went as far as the observation promenade on the 86th floor, where every one had to get out and, if they wanted to go to the upper floors, use another elevator for the last 16 floors up to the 102nd floor.

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.^[3]

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

• 1933, 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.' Snippets of said code were published in newsman Walter Winchell's column in 1933, where it was presented as part of a "glossary of soda-fountain lingo."

• 1944, According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first verifiable use of 86 in the 'refuse service to' sense dates to a 1944 book about John Barrymore, a movie star of the 1920s famous for his acting and infamous for his drinking: "There was a bar in the Belasco building ... but Barrymore was known in that cubby as an 'eighty-six'. An 'eighty-six', in the patois of western dispensers, means: 'Don't serve him.'"

http://www.snopes.com/language/stories/86.asp

• 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 titled "Mailer Film party Real Bash: 1 Broken Jaw, 2 Bloody Heads" by Anthony Lukas includes ""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." (The 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 1975, Tom Waits uses the term 86'd in his song "Eggs and Sausage (In a Cadillac with Susan Michelson)" on the album Nighthawks at the Diner in the line "I've been 86'd from your scheme".
• 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 1987, in the Disney movie, The Brave Little Toaster, Lampy says, "That's it, it's over, I'm burned out, 86'd, to the showers!" when telling Toaster about the first time his bulb burned out.
• In 1992, the movie Batman Returns uses the term, where the character Max Shreck says to Bruce Wayne about the Penguin "if his parents hadn't 86'ed him, you two could have been prep school buddies".
• In the 1992 film Out on a Limb, Matt Skearns (played by Jeffrey Jones) tells his dead twin brother and Buzzsaw mayor, Peter Van Der Haven (also played by Jeffrey Jones) after killing him what his plans are, the second of which he says "I'm gonna 86 your family!" after burying him and before going to the bank to take the $150,000 his brother was supposed to pay him after spending 15 years in prison for a crime his brother committed.
• 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.^[4]
• 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.^[5]
• In the 1995 album Insomniac by Green Day, there was a song called "86." It was written by frontman Billie Joe Armstrong and has reflected the band being "86'd" from 924 Gilman Street.
• The British indie-rock band Subcircus released a single titled "86'd" in 1997.
• In 1998 in season 6, episode 1 (no.121) of Frasier, the line, "86 the spring rolls. Bring me the frickin' turkey!", is uttered by Frasier.
• 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.
• In the Codename: Kids Next Door cartoon, one of the child 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 the 2008 final issue of Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra's graphic novel, "Y: The Last Man", the main character, Yorick Brown, jokes about a recent suicide attempt of ambiguous intent, saying that he did it because he "...was eighty-fived and about to be eighty-sixed."
• 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."^[6]
• In a July 16, 2009 Chicago Tribune article "Sweet & Savories restaurant pares prices but not the flavor" 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."
• Dan Fante's 2009 novel, 86'd, is about a man who gets fired and battles his alcoholism.^[7]
• 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 30, 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."^[8]
• In the musical Little Shop Of Horrors, during the song "Feed Me," Audrey 2 says, "There must be someone you can 86? Real quiet like..." while trying to convince Seymour to bring her more blood to eat.
• In the 2002 film, Maid in Manhattan, Jennifer Lopez's character utters the phrase "86 the coat. It sends the message you're going somewhere," to Natasha Richardson's character.
• In 2010 episode title "Last Call", Beckett and Castle are questioning a bartender. The bartender tells them Pete was "86'd" for life and last night he showed up drunk causing a scene. Beckett also uses it again, telling Castle So Donnie 86'd Pete for life. Castle then says "Looks like he returned the favor".
• In 2013 Gordon Ramsay aka Chef Ramsay Kitchen Nightmares Season 6 Episode 16 addresses the diners at Amy's Baking Company regarding the ravioli the bistro serves. Chef Ramsay asks the diners "So would you mind, personally if I 86'd them (ravioli meals) to stop you from eating crap?" The diners agree therefore preventing any more ravioli meals from being served that night because it was store bought frozen ravioli and not freshly made.^[9]
• In a 2013 episode of the TV show Arrow, the character Felicity asked by a casino boss about the origin of the term "86," and replies that it came from an illegal casino that once operated at 86 Bedford Street.
• In 2013, in the TV show Walking Dead, Season 4, Episode 7, the term '86'd' is used about several dead bodies.

References

External links

Look up eighty-six in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• "eighty-six"="nix" Yaelf.com, the alt.usage.english FAQ
• Snopes.com: Etymology of the slang term "86"