<P> The term is part of restaurant slang, seen among restaurant workers in the 1930s, where 86 meant "we're all out of it ." Walter Winchell published examples of similar restaurant slang in his newspaper column in 1933, which he presented as part of a "glossary of soda - fountain lingo ." </P> <P> Several possible origins of the term 86 have been suggested, all dated before the 1950s . </P> <Ul> <Li> United States Navy decommissioning: One possible origin is from the U.S. Navy's Allowance Type (AT) coding system used for logistics . The allowance type code is a single digit that identifies the reason that material is being carried in stock . Throughout the life - cycle of a warship, many pieces of equipment are upgraded or replaced, requiring onboard spare parts to be disposed of, and the code is AT - 6 for parts designated for disposal . Following World War II, there were a great number of warships being decommissioned, sold, scrapped, or deactivated and placed in reserve (commonly referred to as "mothballed"). During this process, labor workers would bring up spare parts from the storerooms and the supply clerk would tell them the AT code . Anything to be disposed of was referred to as AT - 6--which is pronounced the same as "86". </Li> </Ul> <Li> United States Navy decommissioning: One possible origin is from the U.S. Navy's Allowance Type (AT) coding system used for logistics . The allowance type code is a single digit that identifies the reason that material is being carried in stock . Throughout the life - cycle of a warship, many pieces of equipment are upgraded or replaced, requiring onboard spare parts to be disposed of, and the code is AT - 6 for parts designated for disposal . Following World War II, there were a great number of warships being decommissioned, sold, scrapped, or deactivated and placed in reserve (commonly referred to as "mothballed"). During this process, labor workers would bring up spare parts from the storerooms and the supply clerk would tell them the AT code . Anything to be disposed of was referred to as AT - 6--which is pronounced the same as "86". </Li>

Where does the term eighty six come from