Park Police investigating what it calls vandalism after the numbers 86 and 47 were found marked in National Mall grass, near the site of Trump's UFC event this weekend.
There’s a folk etymology that it comes from a particularly infamous speakeasy with two entrances, one on 86th street, and unruly patrons would be forcibly ejected from that entry.
86 - slang meaning “get rid of”
47 - Trump is the 47th (and 45th) president of the US.
oh, thanks. 15 years in the US and I still trip on idioms sometimes. I forgot about “86” (probably because I never understood where it comes from).
There’s a folk etymology that it comes from a particularly infamous speakeasy with two entrances, one on 86th street, and unruly patrons would be forcibly ejected from that entry.
oh interesting
Now it’s commonly used in restaurant kitchens to indicate something (an ingredient or whole dish) should be thrown out
Or sometimes, still indicates a patron in need of ejection or blacklisting! :p
Yeah it’s pretty archaic at this point.
It’s pretty old-fashioned, so no surprise! It comes from the hospitality industry, but where the term itself comes from is unknown.