Word of the Day

: August 6, 2010

eighty-six

verb, slang ay-tee-SIKS

What It Means

: to refuse to serve (a customer); also : to get rid of : throw out

eighty-six in Context

"NBC's Hannah Storm eighty-sixed her real last name, Storen, when her first employer, a heavy-metal-oriented radio station in Corpus Christi, asked her to host a show titled Storm by the Sea." (Sports Illustrated, September 25, 2000)

Did You Know?

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. There are many popular but unsubstantiated theories about the origin of "eighty-six." The explanation judged most probable by Merriam-Webster etymologists is that the word was created as a rhyming slang word for "nix," which means "to veto" or "to reject."