Date: Sat, 29 Apr 1995 10:16:15 -0400 From: "J. Russell King" Subject: Re: "You're eighty-six, man!" May have started in another guise, but at least here in New York City "eighty six" is bartender's slang for a customer who won't be served anymore, who has been cut off (because of rude behavior or being too drunk). "He's been eighty-sixed." An extended meaning I've also heard is when the kitchen has run out of a particular item, or the bar is out of a particular wine, that item is "eighty six" or "eighty sixed" -- used in conversations between waiters and bartenders, or waiters and the kitchen. Somebody probably has a notion of the ultimate origin, but I don't.