To 86

[Michael]

i would take its use in this case to mean that the software had been
uninstalled.

the term "86" comes from the old days of prohibition (when alcohol was
illegal in the u.s. for a brief period).  the folks who ran a particular
speak-easy (an underground bar where the newly-dubbed contra-band could
still be acquired with great ease) in chicago ran a rather sophisticated
operation, which included a secret code word/phrase that would be telephoned
to the owners of the establishment should it become known that the
authorities were on their way to do a raid.

the tip would warn them to take all the hooch and send it out the back
door -- it just so happened that the address on the door was the number 86.

michael

-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU]On Behalf
Of Philip E. Cleary
Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2001 12:53 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: To 86


The following paragraph is from a CNET newsletter, which I received
yesterday.

<We loved it, you hated it, we rethought it. That's right, in our
first take on Netscape 6, we generally gave the new browser the
thumbs up. But readers overwhelmingly 86'd the program. >

Can anyone translate the verb "to 86" into English?