Talk:86 (term)

Examples of use in popular culture

Can anyone find a pre 2020 example of where "86" is used in popular culture (e.g. gangster movies) to mean to kill someone? I've looked but can't find any. I realize this is OR, but my curiosity was peaked when I read the definition in Cassell's dictionary about when the term came to mean "to kill" (1970's US). I was wondering where they got that from. Nowa (talk) 11:16, 30 April 2026 (UTC)

Off the top of my head, not a person but an object, In the 2014 movie Fury at the end of the scene where they fight the German tank.

During the fight, the radio was shot through by an armor penetrating shell that fails to explode.

Brad Pitt's character says "The radio is 86", which could be construed as "out", but in my opinion, dead/killed makes more sense as an interpretation seeing as it was just shot through and is by all other interpretations, dead.

Note that this line does not exist in any posted movie scripts, but it is the line used in all available releases, likely because the actor ad-libbed the line, something this movie was famous for doing.

it can be heard in any of the multiple clips of the firefight posted to YouTube, any DVD release, any theatrical release, etc.

Unfortunately, that source will not be good enough for Wikipedia, because it doesn't have a link that you can click to and read. Which is a different problem altogether. Desojo (talk) 00:49, 1 May 2026 (UTC)

Here's a few. The Sopranos, Kiss Me Deadly, Ready Player One, Casino (debatable), Leaving Las Vegas, Visit to a Small Planet, SpongeBob SquarePants. ~2026-27652-02 (talk) 08:52, 7 May 2026 (UTC)

Visit to a Small Planet

See page history from 2010: Whether it was the catalyst that propelled '86' into American culture, or just helped reinforce it, Gore Vidal's play Visit to a Small Planet was a well received comedy where the main character uses the command number "86" numorous times to destroy things. The play was first shown on the Goodyear Television Playhouse in 1955 as a television play, then in February 8, 1957 New York Times Theatre review describes the play, that ran for 388 performances, as; "...As a writer of comedy, Gore Vidal is foolish and funny, and his "Visit to a Small Planet," which opened at the Booth last evening, is uproarious." Then, in the late Winter of 1960, the popular play was released on the silver screen: Visit to a Small Planet, starring Jerry Lewis was released, as well as re-released in 1966 on a double billing. Jerry Lewis plays the part of Kreton, an alien with special powers. To activate his powers, he used number commands, one of which was 86, and that destroyed things. He kills a plant by saying 86 and later threatens to kill a guy with the same command number. This forever engraved "86" into the minds of the baby boomers and generation to come. ~2026-26793-72 (talk) 21:24, 2 May 2026 (UTC)

The age of the play is probably a good candidate to explain why it became widespread, as it's still fairly close to the end of World War II at that point.

It lends tangential credence to the theory that 86 originated as G.I. language during the war, being the rough depth and length of a grave.

WW2 media, such as fury after the radio is shot during the exchange with the tiger tank, sometimes uses this term as shorthand for the euphemism "dead and buried". Desojo (talk) 22:46, 11 May 2026 (UTC)