<Li> Documented 1944 use: According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first verifiable use of 86 in the sense of "refuse service to" dates to a 1944 book about John Barrymore, a movie star of the 1920s famous for his acting and infamous for his drinking: "There was a bar in the Belasco building...but Barrymore was known in that cubby as an' eighty - six' . An' eighty - six', in the patois of western dispensers, means:' Don't serve him ."' </Li> <Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (June 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (June 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> 1947: In the song "Boogie Woogie Blue Plate" by Louis Jordan, one line is "86 on the cherry pies" as one of many examples of short - order restaurant lingo . </Li> <Li> 1957: The main character in Gore Vidal's play Visit to a Small Planet uses the command "86" numerous times to destroy things . </Li> <Li> In the television series Get Smart, agent Maxwell Smart was code - named Agent 86 . </Li> <Li> 1973: Thomas Pynchon used the term "86" in Gravity's Rainbow: "They did finally 86 him out of Massachusetts Bay Colony ." </Li> <Li> 1989: David B. Feinberg published the novel "Eighty - sixed" contrasting life in New York just before HIV to life in 1986 when AIDS had become a major health crisis in the city . </Li> <Li> Filmmaker Dave Markey made a documentary about the final tour of the infamous hardcore punk band Black Flag entitled Reality 86'd . The movie was filmed in 1986 during the band's final tour, but wasn't released until 1991 . </Li> <Li> Dan Fante's 2009 novel 86'd is about a man who gets fired and battles his alcoholism . </Li> <Li> Cars's main antagonist Chick Hicks has this number which means he rammed other cars and got rid of them . </Li> <Li> 2015: The song "The Remedy" on the album Money Shot by Puscifer contains the line "Trolls receive 86's" meaning there is a zero tolerance policy for inappropriate behavior . </Li> </Ul>

Where did the saying 86 that come from