86’d.  He is 86’d.  We are out of it, pick another menu item.  Take him 80 miles out of town and put him 6 feet under.  I’m sorry Captain, the depth is not 86 feet.  OH NO!  He jumped from the 86th floor!  Attention everyone, there is a raid about to come through the door on 86th Avenue, please vacate the premise.  No more booze for you fella, you are 86’d.  I don’t care if you did only drink 86 proof, you are just as much a problem to us now as that guy down the bar who has only drank 100 proof tonight…You are outa here!

Sherry and I were discussing the origin of the term 86 this morning and so I went on a search to find the origin.

All of the internet is saying the same things.  First off it started in America sometime in the 1930’s or 1940’s.  And all of them are speculative as to how the term started.

The prohibition days is most likely the beginning of it as the mobsters were ubiquitous (seeming everywhere at the same time).  Blasting anyone who appeared to be against whatever their cause was at the time.  And most of them were engaged in illegal activities in every category you can think of.  So, it seems like they are the most likely to have started it with the “take him 80 miles out of town and plant him 6 feet under”.

Well, on another note, the Empire State Building has an elevator that only goes to the 86th floor and everyone must get off at that point, unless of course they are going down.  It is also the floor where most suicide people would jump from.  So to 86 yourself meant you were going to fall a pretty good distance before becoming jello on the street below.

There is one story about a famous restaurant in New York City that served up a pretty good steak and everyone that went in there seemed to order it.  Of course it was the 86th item on the menu.  But they could only get so many of that type and tender of a steak and so they often ran out.  When they did the waitress’ were told to tell the customer that it was 86’d and they would have to order something else off the menu.

During the wars, the Navy would often bury their dead soldiers at sea, but someone had the brilliant idea that the depth of the water had to be at least 86 feet (there is a fathom number, but I can’t remember it) deep in order for the body to sink to the bottom and not come back up or be washed ashore.  Bin Laden is at or deeper than that as I write this…Thank you U.S. Navy for that!

Well, you pretty much have the story behind that.  I’m certain there are other ideas and heck, make up some yourself.  How about it started in the old Western days…I’ll say it took a quick draw guy one 86th of a second to remove his pistol from the holster and fire at his opponent and if you could not do that or faster, you would be 86’d.

I’ll kindly 86 myself out of here!

Bears Butt

Oct. 27, 2012