eighty-six
English
edit| ← 85 | 86 | 87 → |
|---|---|---|
| Cardinal: eighty-six Ordinal: eighty-sixth Adverbial: eighty-six times | ||
Etymology 1
editNumeral
editeighty-six
- The cardinal number immediately following eighty-five and preceding eighty-seven.
Synonyms
editTranslations
editcardinal number 86
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Etymology 2
editUnknown for certain. Possibly rhyming slang for nix (“cancel, say no to”) (given by the OED), or possibly part of a code of such numbers created in the 1920s. See also: Wikipedia:86 (term)
Verb
editeighty-six (third-person singular simple present eighty-sixes, present participle eighty-sixing, simple past and past participle eighty-sixed)
- (colloquial) To cancel an order for food.
- Eighty-six the ham and eggs for table two!
- (colloquial) To remove an item from the menu.
- Eighty-six the lobster bisque - we won't have the lobster delivery until tomorrow.
- "Yes, I'd like the tomato soup." / "I'm sorry sir, that's been eighty-sixed - would you like a salad instead?"
- (colloquial) To remove or eject, as a disruptive customer.
- Ryan and his friends got too rowdy at the bar, so they were eighty-sixed.
- (colloquial) To throw out; to discard.
- We finally had to eighty-six that old printer after it jammed one too many times.
- 2007 January, MacAddict, page 25:
- ...Apple eighty-sixed all of its paid moderators...
Synonyms
editTranslations
editto cancel an order for food
colloquial: to remove or eject
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colloquial: to throw out
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References
edit- Michael Quinion (2004) “Eighty-six”, in Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds: Ingenious Tales of Words and Their Origins, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books in association with Penguin Books, →ISBN.