> About the Flatiron Building... It has a triangular corner abutting into a fork in the road? I'll swear I've seen a building like that in London, England. It's somewhat shorter and squatter and probably a lot cleaner on the outside. :-) Perhaps someone knows what this London building is called...
>

Yes, that is the Flatiron Building. There's also a four- (or five-) story building that looks just like it over in Fort Worth, Texas.

> '86 it'. Never heard of it. Clarify?

"Eighty-six it" is restaurant or bar slang for an item that is out of stock -- Merriam-Webster says "For example, if someone ordered stew, then changed his mind and asked for a ham sandwich instead, the waiter might tell the kitchen to eighty-six the stew. Similarly, when a chef ran out of the evening's special, she might tell the servers to eighty-six it."

After a brief web browsing, it turns out that the origin I had thought to be correct likely isn't (although the American Heratige dictionary cites it). Back in the times of Prohibition, there was a speakeasy in Greenwich Village in NYC called Chumley's. (It's still there and tends to get really crowded right at 10pm.) Anyhoo, Chumley's had two entrances, one off of Bedford Street disguised as a garage, and one -- the main entrance -- on a courtyard that faces the nearest cross-street. Whenever the place was raided, the cops usually came through that door. The patrons would run out the door facing Bedford Street (#86), getting rid of their illegal beer in the process. Using "86" as a verb meaning "to get rid of", dates only to 1955, so the Chumley's story is most likely incorrect.

The real history? It was most likely a code phrase created by restaurant crews. Although there is no strong evidence to support this, "eighty-six" may have been used because it was rhyming slang for "nix".

> Wolf "Yeah, and how about that curious phrase 'Let's blow this joint' as a more violent metaphor for leaving the locale"

Huh. If it continues to be a slow day at work, I'll check that one out, too.

-Faux "Five bucks a beer at Chumley's." Pas