Do You Know All of This Slang That Waiters Use?

Eighty-six comes from the word nix. However, no one is quite sure where it was created. One theory involves 1930s' restaurant lingo.

BOH stands for Back of House, which includes cooks and dishwashers. FOH is Front of House, which includes servers, hosts, and anyone else the customer sees.

When you order an appetizer and entree at the same time, you usually don't want to receive them at the same time. In these cases, the server may give the kitchen both parts of your order, but have the kitchen make one part at a time until you're ready for the next dish.

Dead food is called dead because it can't be given to another customer. However, that doesn't mean it's inedible. The staff often takes advantage of a dish a customer was unhappy with and eats it themselves.

While cooks hate to make killed food, there are customers who order steaks and vegetables this way. Many cooks feel that killing food removes the natural flavors of the food.

If a server requests something on the fly, they need the cooks to get on it immediately. This could be the result of an order being improperly prepared the first time or the server forgetting to place part of the order.

If a waiter is working two shifts in a row, they are working a double. You may also hear this expression outside of the restaurant business.

They are sometimes called the wheelman. You will usually find an expeditor in the kitchen during a restaurant's busiest times, such as the lunch and dinner rush.

A staff meal is usually served to all employees at once. The restaurant owner pays for it and treats it as a perk of employment.

Ghost restaurants may not have a physical location. They rely on orders placed on Grubhub and other online delivery services to get business.

The nickname, Java, for coffee comes from the island of Java. In a diner, you may also hear the drink called a Cup of Joe.

Moo juice originated with soda jerkers, who came up with creative names for what they served. Milk may also be called cow juice.

Wreck 'em comes from 1920s' diner slang for scrambled eggs. If you don't specify how you'd like your eggs, you may hear them called hen fruit or cackleberries.

Yellow blanket on a dead cow comes from turn of the 20th century New York diner lingo. Another phrase, walk a cow through the garden, means that the customer ordered a hamburger with lettuce, tomato, and onion.

Swamp water is a soda made with all available flavors. It was more common in the days of soda jerks.

There are many diner slang words for butter. Aside from axle grease, it can also be called skid grease or cow paste.

LEO is an acronym for lox, eggs, and onion. It is most common in the New York area.

The twins are the salt and pepper shakers. They are also known as Mike and Ike.

To burn the British means to make an English muffin. If you just want to burn one, that would mean putting a hamburger on the grill.

While butcher's revenge isn't the nicest way to refer to meatloaf, there's more diner slang that you probably wouldn't want to hear while eating a meal. For example, ketchup is sometimes referred to as hemorrhage and french fires as frog sticks.

If a server is waxing the table, they are giving special treatment to a table. These people are usually very good customers or the family of a person who works at the restaurant.

A B.L.T. is a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich. If you order a B.T., you will receive only the bacon and tomato.

If you order biscuits and gravy, you may receive what is also known as a heart attack on a rack. While your doctor probably wouldn't approve, doughnuts are nicknamed life preservers.

A George Eddy doesn't leave a tip, which means the waiter gets stiffed.

Adam and Eve on a raft is two poached eggs on toast. However, if you request scrambled eggs on toast, the waiter will order the kitchen to wreck them.

A cracker is a dog biscuit. If you want a cracker and cheese, you could ask for dog and maggot.

Water has several slang terms. You can call it city water, dog soup, or Adam's ale.

A radio sandwich is a tuna sandwich. It comes from tuning a radio.

Other slang for cereal is baled hay and Battle Creek in a bowl. The former is specifically shredded wheat. The latter comes from Kellogg's headquarters in Battle Creak, Michigan, and is used for corn flakes.

If an order is for takeout, it may be called a runner. You may also hear someone tell the chef to put shoes on it.

Eve with the lid on isn't the only colorful dessert name. Soda jerks referred to jello as shimmy, shivering Liz, and nervous pudding.

A house boat is a banana split. If you wanted chocolate soda with vanilla ice cream, you could order a black and white. However, in some diners, that was slang for black coffee with cream.

Asking for Vermont will get you maple syrup. Considering that Vermont is known for maple syrup, this is one of the few soda jerk slang terms that has an origin that makes sense.

In soda jerk slang, sand was sugar. They also referred to a sugar bowl as a gravel train.

Restaurants print duplicate tickets, so that the server and the kitchen can each have a copy. A server might yell for the dupe if they need to make a change to an order.