Gretchen Whitmer 8645 - Where does the term “86” come from?

We’ve all heard someone used the term 86 in reference to doing away with something.

Eighty-six or 86 is American English slang; according to the Oxford English Dictionary, it means "to eject or debar from premises; to reject or abandon". It is broadly used in food and drink services to indicate that an item is no longer available or that a customer should be ejected.

In the lingo of restaurants and bars, eighty-six is an old bit of coded slang that can mean that an item on the menu isn’t available—or, as is evidently the case here, that a customer should be removed from the premises. (It’s common lingo among those who tend bar, a profession that entails inconspicuously showing the door to patrons who have had too much to drink.) It has also been turned into a verb, meaning “eject” or “get rid of”.

In the 1930s restaurants were one of the main incubators for its usage and development. Believed to be slang for the word nix.

Perhaps the birth of this phrase occurred in death? The last time you can be “86’d” might be when they put you under the ground, as most standard graves are 8 feet long and 6 feet deep.