Etymology of "Eighty-Six"

John-Patrick email1 at FOLKLORE.MS
Fri Nov 7 18:36:57 UTC 2008


Greetings,

I have read that the 86 comes from military parlance as Article 86 of
the Uniform Military Code that deals with "Absent Without Leave
(AWOL)".  When something is sold out it in a restaurant it is also
"Absent without Leave".   Any evidence for this?

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



More information about the Ads-l mailing list