Eighty six

What does Eighty six means? Yes, you are right! Eighty six (86) is the natural number following 85 and preceding 87.

Did you know?

Eighty six also means "to refuse to serve a customer at a bar or restaurant". It also means to throw away or that an item is no longer available.

Origin

The term is American and originated in the restaurant trade. There are a number of theories about the origin of the term. The actual origin is uncertain but the most famous theory is that it originated from Chumley's Bar and restaurant at 86 Bedford Street in Greenwich Village New York City. Purportedly, the expression "to Eighty-six" (meaning to leave, to cut off, or to eject) originated at Chumley's as a reference to its address: Patrons were told to "Eighty-six it out the Garden Door" in anticipation of a police raid.

But there are other theories also:

That it originated from British merchant shipping where the standard crew was 85, so that the 86^th man didn't get to go;
That 86 was the number of a US law that forbade bartenders to serve the overly intoxicated;
And that it refers to the number of tables at the New York restaurant (New York restaurant had 85 tables), and the table 86, in other words, means no table that the undesirable got.
Whatever its origin, it does seem that "Eighty-six" was first used in restaurants and bars, either in the late 1920s or in the early 1930s.The oldest citation of "Eighty six" is in Walter Winchell column in the Havana Evening Telegram. Winchell was a slang master. 1 June 1933, Havana (Cuba) Evening Telegram, Walter Winchell column, pg. 2, col. 3:

"A Hollywood soda-jerker forwards this glossary of soda-fountain lingo out there..."Shoot one" and "Draw one" is one coke and one coffee..."Shoot one in the red!" means a cherry coke...An "echo" is a repeat order..."Eighty-six" means all out of it..."Eighty-one" is a glass of water..."Thirteen" means one of the big bosses is drifting around...A "red ball" is an orangeade..."Squeeze one" is a limeade..."Eighty-nine" means that a movie player of importance is in the store, and "Twisted, choke and make it cackle!" means a chocolate malted milk - with an egg in it." 

The other clear citation is from the February 1936 issue of journal American Speech, where "Eighty-six" was used to refer that the item on the menu is not on hand."

If you work in a restaurant or bar, you might eighty-six (or "eliminate") a menu item when you run out of it, or you might eighty-six (or "cut off") a customer who should no longer be served. "Eighty-six" is still used in this specific context, but it has also entered the general language. These days, you don't have to be a worker in a restaurant or bar to eighty-six something -- you just have to be someone with something to get rid of or discard.