The Old Slang Term '86' Probably Started as Restaurant-Worker Jargon. Suddenly It's in the News
- James Comey posted a photo on Instagram on Thursday showing shells arranged as '86 47' during a beach walk, but later deleted it.
- Comey, who has had a contentious relationship with President Trump, interpreted the shells as a political message, unaware some link '86' to violence.
- The term '86' most likely originated as restaurant staff slang around the 1930s and is commonly used to indicate removing something undesirable or ejecting a disruptive customer.
- Trump and his administration viewed Comey’s post ominously, with Trump stating in a Fox News interview, "He knew exactly what that meant."
- Linguist Nicole Holliday said this controversy reflects a polarized culture where slang prompts intense debate, calling it a 'Rorschach test.
48 Articles
48 Articles

The old slang term '86' probably started as restaurant-worker jargon. Suddenly it's in the news
The slang term at the center of a political firestorm around former FBI Director James Comey likely originated as food-service-industry jargon before extending to other uses.
Let's 86 the 86 Thing, M'kay?
I bow to no one — well, almost no one, as I suspect Trump and Mike Flynn would beat me — I bow to almost no one in my distaste, disdain, and general disgust with James Comey, going back to when he ignored the actual law (18 USC 793(f) to be precise) to declare that... The post Let’s 86 the 86 Thing, M’kay? appeared first on Daily Truth Report • DailyTruthReport.com.
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