86 (also written “eighty-six” or “86’d”) is American English slang that means to get rid of, discard, refuse service to, or declare something unavailable.
In restaurants and bars it most often signals that a menu item is sold out or that a customer should be ejected.
Outside hospitality the term has broadened to mean canceling, dumping, or eliminating almost anything from a plan to a problematic person.
This meaning has been documented since the 1930s and remains everyday kitchen and bar shorthand. The exact origin is uncertain, with several plausible theories, but the core sense of removal or unavailability is consistent across contexts.
Meaning of 86 at a Glance
| Context | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurant / kitchen | Item is out of stock or removed from menu | “86 the salmon special.” |
| Bar / hospitality | Customer is barred or ejected | “We 86’d the guy who started a fight.” |
| Everyday / general use | Discard, cancel, or get rid of | “Time to 86 those old files.” |
| Informal / darker slang | Kill or eliminate (rare, mostly fiction) | Used in some crime stories |
| Texting / social media | Dump, delete, or remove from consideration | “I’m 86’ing that group chat.” |
Core Definition and How the Word Works
Dictionaries such as Merriam-Webster define “86” as a verb meaning “to refuse to serve (a customer)” or “to get rid of” or “throw out” someone or something. The Oxford English Dictionary treats it both as a noun (an item that is exhausted or a person who is not to be served) and as a transitive verb (to eject, debar, reject, or abandon).
You will see it conjugated naturally:
- Present: “They 86 the soup every night around 9.”
- Past: “We 86’d the last bottle of that wine.”
- Gerund: “86ing the specials keeps the board accurate.”
The pronunciation is simply “eighty-six.” It functions as workplace code that is quick, discreet, and unambiguous under pressure.
Origin and History: Why the Number 86?
The precise etymology remains unsettled. Reliable sources agree the term surfaced in American English in the late 1920s or early 1930s, first recorded in print around 1933 in soda-fountain jargon.
The strongest early evidence comes from soda-jerk codes. Columnist Walter Winchell listed “86” in a 1933 glossary of soda-fountain lingo as meaning “all out of it” or “we’re out.” A 1941 New York Herald Tribune piece explained that when a soda popper said the tuna fish salad was eighty-six, it meant there wasn’t any more. By the 1940s the sense had expanded to refusing service to a customer; a 1944 biography of actor John Barrymore notes that he was known in one bar as an “eighty-six,” meaning “don’t serve him.”
Leading Theories (None Fully Proven)
- Rhyming slang for “nix.” “Nix” means to forbid, refuse, or veto. “Eighty-six” rhymes with it and carries the same force. Merriam-Webster and Snopes both note this as a plausible and widely accepted explanation.
- Soda-jerk numerical code. Early 20th-century soda fountains used number codes (81 for a glass of water, 13 for the boss nearby, etc.). “86” simply meant “out.”
- Chumley’s at 86 Bedford Street. This Prohibition-era New York speakeasy had an entrance at 86 Bedford Street. One story claims staff shouted “86” to clear patrons out the Bedford Street door when police approached another entrance. The anecdote is colorful and frequently repeated, but documentation is thin and the bar opened in 1927—after some possible earlier uses.
- Other folk explanations. These include Depression-era soup pots that held 85 servings (the 86th person was out of luck), military or shipping codes, or even the dimensions of a standard grave. Most lack solid contemporary evidence and are treated as secondary or speculative.
Scholars and lexicographers generally favor the soda-jerk / “nix” explanations because they rest on the earliest printed records. The Chumley’s story remains popular folklore but is not confirmed as the origin.
How 86 Is Used in Restaurants and Bars Today
In professional kitchens the term is still the fastest way to communicate inventory status. When the last portion of a special is plated, the expo or chef calls “86 the special.” Servers immediately stop offering it, and modern point-of-sale systems often have a one-touch “86” function that updates online menus and delivery platforms.
The same code applies to people. A customer who becomes disruptive, refuses to pay, or repeatedly causes problems can be “86’d”—barred for the night or longer. Many bars keep informal “86 lists” of banned patrons. The word is useful precisely because it is short and can be spoken without escalating a situation in front of other guests.
Examples from real service environments:
- Kitchen to floor: “86 clam chowder—we’re out of clams.”
- Manager to security: “86 table four; they’re getting aggressive.”
- Closing note: “We 86’d the last of the house red around 10:30.”
Television shows set in restaurants (The Bear, for instance) have helped re-popularize the term for general audiences, but it never left the industry.
Broader Everyday and Slang Meanings
Outside hospitality, “86” simply means to discard or cancel. People 86 old habits, outdated plans, broken appliances, or even relationships. In casual conversation or texting you might hear:
- “Let’s 86 the whole idea and start over.”
- “I finally 86’d that group chat.”
- “The company 86’d the project after the budget review.”
A darker, less common sense—“to kill” or “eliminate permanently”—appears in some slang dictionaries (Cassell’s, for example) and in crime fiction. Merriam-Webster notes this usage is relatively recent and sparse, so dictionaries often omit or de-emphasize it. In ordinary speech the primary meanings remain “out of stock,” “ejected,” or “discarded.”
86 in Texting, Social Media, and Pop Culture
In texts and online posts the term travels easily because it is short and versatile. It can mean “delete this,” “I’m done with that person,” or “cancel the plan.” Chinese-speaking internet users sometimes use “86” as a near-homophone for a phrase meaning “you made a fortune,” but that is a separate linguistic coincidence and not related to the American slang.
Pop-culture references reinforce the core idea of removal. Agent 86 in the 1960s comedy Get Smart carries the number as a knowing wink. In Pixar’s Cars, the character Chick Hicks races under number 86, a dual nod to Pixar’s founding year and the verb’s sense of knocking rivals out. These appearances keep the slang familiar even to people who have never worked in a restaurant.
Common Misunderstandings
Several misconceptions circulate:
- “It always means kill.” No. That sense is rare and mostly literary or hyperbolic.
- “It comes only from Chumley’s.” The address story is popular but not the earliest or best-documented explanation.
- “It is new slang from social media.” The term is nearly a century old.
- “It is exclusively restaurant jargon.” While that is its strongest habitat, the meaning has long spilled into general American English.
Context almost always clarifies the intended sense. When someone says “86 the leftovers,” they mean throw them away, not anything more dramatic.
Related Terms and Semantic Neighbors
People often reach for near-synonyms depending on register:
- Nix, cancel, scrap, ditch, dump, axe, deep-six, write off, strike from the menu.
- In military or formal settings, “barring” or “ejecting” may replace “86’ing.”
- “Deep-six” (to discard thoroughly, sometimes with a burial implication) occasionally appears as a parallel or folk-etymology candidate for “86.”
Understanding these neighbors helps map the semantic field: all share the idea of decisive removal or refusal.
Practical Examples Across Contexts
Restaurant inventory
Server: “Is the special still available?”
Kitchen: “86’d it ten minutes ago.”
Customer management
Bartender to manager: “That couple at the end of the bar needs to be 86’d—they’re harassing the staff.”
Everyday decision-making
“After three failed prototypes we finally 86’d the whole design and went back to the drawing board.”
Texting
“I’m 86ing the Friday plans. Too exhausted.”
These examples show the term’s flexibility while remaining anchored to the core idea of making something unavailable or removing it from consideration.
FAQ: Common Questions About What 86 Means
What does 86 mean in a restaurant?
It means an item is no longer available (sold out or pulled from the menu) or, less often, that a customer is being refused further service.
What does it mean when someone is 86’d?
They have been ejected or permanently barred from an establishment, usually for disruptive behavior.
Where did the slang 86 come from?
The earliest solid evidence points to 1930s soda-fountain and restaurant codes meaning “out of stock.” Rhyming slang with “nix” is a leading linguistic explanation; other colorful stories exist but lack firm proof.
Is 86 the same as “deep-six”?
Both can mean discard, but “deep-six” carries a stronger sense of thorough or permanent disposal (sometimes with a burial metaphor). “86” is more neutral and industry-specific in origin.
Does 86 mean kill?
Only in limited slang or fictional contexts. Mainstream dictionaries treat this sense as infrequent and secondary.
How do you use 86 in a sentence?
“The kitchen 86’d the lobster bisque after the last order.” or “We had to 86 the old software because it kept crashing.”
What does 86 mean in texting?
Usually “get rid of,” “cancel,” or “I’m done with that.” Context determines whether it is playful or final.
Is “eighty-six” still used today?
Yes. It remains standard kitchen and bar jargon and appears regularly in everyday American English.
Why do people say 86 instead of just “out” or “cancel”?
It is short, traditional, and functions as discreet professional code that staff understand instantly.
Are there other number codes like 86?
Historically yes—soda jerks used many numerical shortcuts—but few have survived as robustly as 86.
Can 86 be used as a noun?
Yes. “That customer is an 86” means he or she is not to be served. More often it appears as a verb.
Does the meaning change by country?
The term is primarily American English. Speakers outside the U.S. may encounter it through media or hospitality work but do not use it as frequently in everyday speech.
Conclusion
What does 86 mean? At its simplest, it means to remove something from availability or to get rid of someone or something.
Born in American restaurants and soda fountains nearly a century ago, the term has kept its core sense of decisive cancellation while expanding into general slang, texting, and popular culture.
Whether a chef is 86ing a sold-out special, a bar is 86ing a disruptive patron, or a friend is 86ing weekend plans, the word delivers a clear, efficient message: this is done, gone, or no longer on the table. Its staying power comes from that clarity.
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