86/47 Charm Bracelet

The term “86” has woven its way into American slang, typically meaning to get rid of or refuse service. And while its exact origins are murky, its use dates back to the 1930s.

According to Merriam-Webster to “86” someone means to throw them out, get rid of them or refuse them service. Although not confirmed, the dictionary notes it’s likely a rhyme for the word “nix.”

Merriam-Webster notes that the slang term dates to the 1930s when soda jerks used “86” as a noun for something sold out. “When a soda popper says the tuna fish salad is eighty-six, he means there isn’t any more,” the New York Herald Tribune reported in 1941.

“Typically cooks in the kitchen would place an 86 on a blackboard next to an entree to signal the wait staff that they should not accept any more orders for that item,” the late American folklorist Alan Dundes wrote in An Uplifting Origin of 86.

By the 1950s, according to Merriam-Webster, “86” became a verb, commonly referring to tossing drunken customers out of bars.