Police forces, armies, and, of course, spies, all use secret codes for the sake of clarity and concealment, so at first it may seem odd that the code, or term, “86,” is widely used in quite a different realm—the restaurant and hospitality industry.

With a little thought, however, you can see that such places are often fast-moving, and always customer-centered environments—establishments in which any little hack that can make a day run faster and smoother will come in handy.

Using “86” As a Verb

In the food service world, “86” is a verb that means to get rid of an item is no longer available. If something’s on the menu that the restaurant no longer has all the ingredients for, the chefs might call for an “86.” You’ve likely heard this many times on restaurant-related shows, such as FX’s The Bear. It’s a concise, quick method for communicating between colleagues.

By extension, “86” has also come to mean that a particular customer needs to be escorted off the premises. In tricky situations, where you might not want other patrons to become involved, or you require urgent assistance, being able to make use of a short code can certainly be valuable.

It’s not unusual for a term to break free of its origins and become a common expression, and this is the case with “86.” These days, you might quip that your job application was “86’d,” i.e.: turned down, or that a rival sports team just “86’d” your own team’s chance of success for the season.

In some quarters, “86” has taken a dark turn, coming to stand for “kill.” All pretty far from a quarrelsome patron or a shortage of salmon, but the leap is understandable.

The First Recorded Use of the Term

The Oxford English Dictionary states that the first recorded used of the term occurred in a book published in 1944 about the film actor John Barrymore (grandfather of Drew Barrymore). John Barrymore was a famous figure in the silent movie era, and, unlike many of his peers, made a successful transition to the talkies. Sadly, he also struggled with alcoholism and had a troubled personal life.

As the book in question states: “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.'”

But why “86” at all? There are several competing theories. It has been suggested that, in certain establishments, “85” was the legal limit for the number of patrons allowed inside, however, no evidence has been found to support this. Others make the connection to the military term “AWOL,” or absent without leave, which falls under Article 86 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Another popular idea links to Chumbley’s Bar, which stood at 86 Bedford Street in New York City. It’s posited that ejected customers would look back at the 86 number above the door, leading them to declare that they’d been 86’d.

So far, no one has been able to say for sure where the term originated, but perhaps the best, and simplest, suggestion is that it simply rhymes slang for “nix”—a word meaning to disagree or reject.

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