eighty-six or 86; short-order cookery language

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On 6/19/07, Laurence Urdang <urdang at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>
> There are scores of terms used in short-order cookery, some seem to be
> national, others regional, others local.  Eighty-six meaning 'we don't have any
> more' and a few other things loosely imputed to it, seems to have caught on
> nationally.  I doubt that these are taught at the C.I.A. (---No . . . the other one:
> the Culinary Institute of America.)
> It defies imagination that somebody hasn't already written a doctoral dissertation
> on the subject in an age when one can acquire a degree in popular culture.
>   Adam and Eve on a raft . . . . . 'ham and fried eggs'
>   Adam and Eve on a raft---wreck 'em . . . . .'ham and scrambled eggs'
>   draw one . . . 'cup of coffee'
>   etc.

I don't know of any doctoral dissertations, but you'll find many
relevant posts in the ADS-L archives by Barry Popik and others (search
on "hash house" for a start). Barry found what I believe is still the
earliest known reference to "86" meaning 'out of an item on the menu'
in a 1933 Walter Winchell column. See:

http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/86_not_from_chumleys_or_empire_state_building/


--Ben Zimmer

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