86 (term)

Etymology

There are many theories about the origin of the term. Possible origins include:

• Rhyming slang for nix.
• Part of the jargon used by soda jerks. Walter Winchell wrote about this in 1933, in his syndicated On Broadway column. In this, the code 13 meant that a boss was around, 81 was a glass of water and 86 meant "all out of it". In 1936, Professor Harold Bentley of Columbia University studied soda jerk jargon and reported other numeric codes such as 95 for a customer leaving without paying.
• Author Jef Klein theorized that the bar Chumley's at 86 Bedford Street in the West Village of Lower Manhattan was the source. His book The History and Stories of the Best Bars of New York claims that the police would call Chumley's bar during Prohibition before making a raid and tell the bartender to "86" his customers, meaning that they should exit out the 86 Bedford Street door, while the police would come to the Pamela Court entrance.

Usage

The term eighty-six is used in restaurants and bars, according to most American slang dictionaries. It is often used in food and drink services to indicate that an item is no longer available or that a customer should be ejected. Beyond this context, it is generally used with the meaning to "get rid of" someone or something.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the term as to "refuse to serve (a customer)", or to "get rid of" or "throw out" someone or something. The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) says it may be used as a noun or verb. As a noun, "In restaurants and bars, an expression indicating that the supply of an item is exhausted, or that a customer is not to be served; also, a customer to be refused service. Also transferred." As a transitive verb derived from the noun, it means "to eject or debar (a person) from premises; to reject or abandon". The OED gives examples of usage from 1933 to 1981; for example, in the 1972 film The Candidate, a media adviser says to Robert Redford's character, "OK, now, for starters, we got to cut your hair and eighty-six the sideburns".

According to Cassell's Dictionary of Slang, "to 86" also means "to kill, to murder; to execute judicially". Other slang dictionaries also contain this definition. The website Snopes posits that the most likely derivation of the term is from the slang "nix," which "carries a clear meaning of 'say no to, turn down, forbid,' which is the primary meaning ascribed to 86".

In popular culture

The term 86 is most prominent in the light novel series 86 and its subsequent anime adaptation. In the world of the series, the main setting of the Republic of San Magnolia is divided into 86 districts, with the 86th housing all of the country’s minority populations that are collectively given the pejorative “86”, a reference to the term in how they were discarded by society.

Music

• The 1947 song "Boogie Woogie Blue Plate", by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five, uses soda-jerk lingo, among which is "86 on the cherry pie".
• The 1995 song "86" by Green Day is about them being rejected from their punk rock community when they started achieving commercial success.

Stage and screen

• Agent 86 in the 1960s TV show Get Smart gets his code number from the term.
• In Pixar's Cars (2006), Lightning McQueen’s chief rival Chick Hicks, voiced by Michael Keaton, appears on-track as stock-car number 86. the filmmakers chose that number as a dual nod both to Pixar’s 1986 founding and to the verb, echoing Hicks’s habit of bumping rivals out of contention.
• The 2018 comedy crime film 86'd by Alan Palomo depicts five stories taking place at a 24-hour deli with a theme song composed under his Neon Indian moniker.

Literature

• The 1989 novel Eighty-sixed by David B. Feinberg refers to "the gay community wiped out by AIDS". It won Feinberg the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Men's Fiction and the American Library Association Gay/Lesbian Award for Fiction.
• The 2009 novel 86'd by Dan Fante is loosely based on his own struggles with alcoholism and substance abuse.

United States politics

In 1996, The Nation dismissed the administration of Bill Clinton firing travel office employees by writing "assume that Hillary [Clinton] personally eighty-sixed seven travel office employees ... AT&T; fired 44,000 and nobody said a word."

8664 was a freeway removal advocacy group in Louisville, Kentucky, who in the early 2000s advocated for the removal of Interstate 64 along Louisville's riverfront.

A 2017 TMZ article described then President Donald Trump as having "86'd Black History Month." In 2018, a restaurant owner asked then White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders to leave, and later described the request as "I'd 86'd Sanders."

In October of 2020, Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer appeared from her home on the television show Meet The Press, displaying a small pin in the background featuring the numbers "86 45". Many on the right and in the administration of the 45th president, Donald Trump, claimed it was a reference to assassination, though there is no evidence the incident was investigated by the Justice Department.

In 2022, alt-right conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec tweeted "8646", and also used it as a code for merchandise calling for then-president Joe Biden's impeachment.

In a February 2024 tweet, Matt Gaetz, then member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 1st congressional district, wrote that House speaker Kevin McCarthy, Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, and Senator Mitch McConnell had been "86'd" from their leadership positions.

In May 2025, former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey posted a photo on Instagram that prominently displayed the numbers "86 47" with some arranged seashells on a sandy beach. Some Republicans said that Comey's image was a threat directed at the life of the 47th president, Donald Trump. Trump told Fox News' Bret Baier that Comey was "calling for the assassination of the president." The Trump administration said the Secret Service was investigating Comey's "86 47" social media post. Many of the Republicans, including Matt Gaetz and Jack Posobiec, who said they were enraged by Comey's use of "86" in reference to Trump had previously directed the term at their own political opponents.

References

References

1. Walter Winchell. (May 24, 1933). "On Broadway". [[Akron Beacon Journal]].
2. Ben Zimmer. (June 23, 2018). "A Restaurant 'Eighty-Sixed' Sarah Huckabee Sanders. What Does That Mean?". [[The Atlantic]].
3. Bentley, Harold W.. (February 1936). "Linguistic Concoctions of the Soda Jerker". Duke University Press.
4. (2006). "The History and Stories of the Best Bars of New York". [[Turner Publishing Company]].
5. (2001). "An Uplifting Origin of 86". [[American Speech]].
6. (October 2020). "Definition of 86 by Merriam-Webster". [[Merriam-Webster]].
7. (1989). "eighty-six, n.". [[Oxford English Dictionary]].
8. Green, Jonathon. (2005). "Cassell's Dictionary of Slang". [[Sterling Publishing Company.
9. (March 10, 2009). "What Does the Term '86' Mean and Where Did It Come From?".
10. (1994). "Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang: H-O". Random House.
11. (June 26, 2015). "The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English". Routledge.
12. (9 March 2009). "Etymology of '86'".
13. Knopper, Steve. (1999). "MusicHound Swing!: The Essential Album Guide". Visible Ink Press.
14. "Green Day: The Inside Story of Insomniac".
15. Case, Wesley. (May 3, 2013). "A brief guide to Green Day". [[Tribune Publishing]].
16. Douglas Martin. (September 27, 2005). "Don Adams, Television's Maxwell Smart, Dies at 82". The New York Times.
17. (December 21, 2018). "Neon Indian Releases Theme Song for His New Film ''86'd''". [[Spin (magazine).
18. Texier, Catherien. (February 26, 1989). "When sex was all that mattered". [[The New York Times]].
19. Feinberg, David B.. (November 1, 1995). "Queer and Loathing: Rants and Raves of a Raging AIDS Clone". Penguin.
20. "Dan Fante, Confronting His Demons on the Page". [[NPR]].
21. Silverstein, Ken. (October 1996). "No Problem: Liberal magazines have all but ignored eithical controversies engulfing the Clintons.".
22. Green, Marcus. (2007-10-31). "Council to hold hearings on 8664 idea". [[The Courier-Journal]].
23. (2017-02-08). "Verify: Did Donald Trump change the name of Black History Month?".
24. (2019-05-14). "I own the restaurant that asked Sarah Sanders to leave. Resistance is not futile.".
25. (2020-10-23). "Republicans criticized Whitmer for use of "86." What does it actually mean?".
26. Blake, Aaron. (2025-05-16). "Analysis {{!}} James Comey, and a sudden shift in what '86' supposedly means". The Washington Post.
27. Baragona, Justin. (May 16, 2025). "Matt Gaetz insists his use of '86' is 'distinct' from Comey's 'threat' as MAGA accused of hypocrisy over term". The Independent.
28. "We've now 86'd: McCarthy McDaniel McConnell".
29. (May 15, 2025). "FBI Director Comey deletes 8647 post".
30. Egwuonwu, Nnamdi. (2025-05-16). "Former FBI Director James Comey under investigation for post seen as a potential threat to Trump's life".
31. (May 16, 2025). "Trump says 'dirty cop' former FBI director 'meant assassination' with '86 47' seashells picture". al.
32. AP News Politics, Trump administration officials say Secret Service is investigating Comey's '86 47' social media post, https://apnews.com/article/comey-trump-threat-shells-deleted-post-39b37b1d36c0463d3dad41a3d1339d4e, May 2025