Date:  Thu, 15 Jan 1998 16:09:48 -0500
From:  Denis Anson <danson[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]MISERI.EDU>
Subject: Re: "911" as a verb?

On Thursday, January 15, 1998 1:45 PM, Keith Chambless
[SMTP:keith[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]BLUENEPTUNE.COM] wrote:
> >     "They called roll, Irit wasn't there, they went looking for her,
> >     couldn't find her, 911'd Westside Division, who sent a couple of
> >     units. . . ."
> >
> >     I haven't seen this usage before. Has it been around for a while?
> >
> > Virginia
>
> I never heard it before. But I've heard of 86'd. And I've heard someone say
> "I'll 86 you from the bar", so 86 is a transitive as well as an intransitive
> verb, why not 911 too?
>
> Keith
> P.S. Hi. Just subscribed a couple of days ago.

I once asked a bartender about the 86 nomenclature. He told me that it stemmed
from a small restaurant that had a large menu, but the most popular item on the
menu was number 86. About half the time, item 86 wasn't available, so when
anything else ran out, it was referred to as being 86ed, meaning that they were
out of it. The usage was "86 the scrambled eggs." The meaning was that you
didn't take any orders *for* the item that was 86ed.

The usage now seems to have broadened to include not taking orders *from* a
person who has been 86ed.

Denis Anson