Folk etymology

[Douglas G. Wilson]

 >I've only known "86" as "the item is on the menu but we're out of it";
where does "kill" enter in?

I've encountered it personally only as a verb meaning 'eject' or 'bar': if
one is eighty-sixed at/from a bar, he is either refused further drinks
because of intoxication or expelled/barred from the premises because of
unacceptable behavior.

This is sometimes said to be rhyming slang, = "nix".

This is also said to be a lonely survivor from an extensive numerical code
used by restaurant workers before WW II -- with the original sense "We
don't have that item".

Gradually the sense "get rid of" apparently arose, and Chapman lists "kill"
as a late sense.

Compare "Deep six" [verb], = "get rid of": just coincidence?

My RHUD shows "eighty-six" = "sold out" and "refuse to serve" and
"reject"/"discard".

The Quinion site gives a discussion which includes some more folk etymology:

http://www.quinion.com/words/qa/qa-eig1.htm

-- Doug Wilson
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