Coquina Daily

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Diner Lingo

The origin of diner lingo is unknown, but there is evidence suggesting it may have been used by waiters as early as the 1870s and 1880s. Many of the terms used are lighthearted and tongue-in-cheek and some are a bit racy or ribald, but are helpful mnemonic devices for short-order cooks and staff. Diner slang was most popular from the 1920s to the 1970s.

Today, diner lingo is not as prevalent as it was in the past because the rise of the fast food industry has in large part replaced the diner. Also, the use of computerized order systems has eliminated the need for wait staff to "call" orders. However, the use of restaurant diner lingo is still present in small towns as well as retro-style restaurants and is a colorful part of Americana.   link

Diner Lingo List

A

Adam & Eve on a raft: two poached eggs on toast

Adam's Ale: water

All hot: baked potato

B

B & B: bread and butter

B.L.T.: bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich

Baby: Glass of milk

Baled hay: shredded wheat

Balloon juice/Belch water/Alka Seltzer: seltzer, soda water

Beef Stick: bone

Billiard: buttermilk

Birdseed: breakfast

Black and white: chocolate soda with vanilla ice cream

A blonde with sand: coffee with cream and sugar

Bloodhounds in the Hay: hot dogs and sauerkraut

Bloody: very rare

Blowout patches: pancakes

Blue-plate special: a dish of meat, potato, and vegetable served on a plate (usually blue) sectioned in three parts. This can also refer to the daily special.

Boiled leaves: Tea

Bow-wow/Bun pup/Tube steak/Groundhog: a hot dog

Bowl of red: a bowl of chili con carne, so called for its deep red color.

Break it and shake it: add egg to a drink

Breath: onion

Bridge/Bridge party: four of anything (from bridge the card game)

Bronx vanilla/Halitosis/Italian Garlic: garlic

Bubble Dancer: dishwasher

Bucket of cold mud: a bowl of chocolate ice cream

Bullets/Whistleberries/Saturday night: Baked beans, so called because of the supposed flatulence they cause.

Burn one: put a hamburger on the grill

Burn one, take it through the garden and pin a rose on it: hamburger with lettuce, tomato and onion

Burn the British: toasted English muffin

C

C.J. Boston: cream cheese and jelly

Cackle fruit/Cackleberries: eggs

Canned cow: evaporated milk

Check the ice: look at the pretty girl who just came in

Checkerboard: Waffle

Chewed with Fine Breath: hamburger with onions

China: rice pudding

Chopper: a table knife

Clean up the kitchen: hash

Coney Island chicken/Coney Island bloodhound/Coney Island: a hot dog, so called because hot dogs were popularly associated with the stands on Coney Island.

Cow feed: a salad

Cow paste/Skid Grease/Axle grease: butter

Cowboy Western: a western omelette or sandwich

Creep: Draft beer

Crowd: three of anything (possibly from the saying "Two's company, three's a crowd")

Cup o' joe: a cup of coffee.

Customer will take a chance: hash

D

Deadeye: poached egg

Dough well done with cow to cover: bread and butter

Dog and maggot: cracker and cheese

Dog biscuit: a cracker

Dog soup: water

Drag it through the garden: a hamburger, hotdog, sandwich or similar with all condiments on it.

Draw one/A cup of mud: a cup of coffee

Draw one in the Dark/Flowing Mississippi: a black coffee

Dry: a hamburger, hotdog, sandwich or similar without butter, mayonnaise or other dressing.

Dusty Miller: chocolate pudding, sprinkled with powdered malt

E

Eighty-six: "Do not sell to that customer" or "The kitchen is out of the item ordered". "To remove an item from an order or from the menu".

Eve with a lid on: apple pie, referring to the biblical Eve's tempting of Adam with an apple. The "lid" is the pie crust

Eve with a moldy lid: apple pie with a slice of cheese

F

Fifty-five: a glass of root beer

First lady: spareribs, a pun on Eve's being made from Adam's spare rib.

Fish eyes or Cat's eyes: tapioca pudding

Flop two: two fried eggs, over easy

Flop two, over easy: fried egg flipped over (carefully!) and the yolk is still very runny. That means the other side is cooked for a few seconds

Flop two, over medium: turning over a fried egg and the yolk begins to solidify

Flop two, over hard: fried egg, flipped and cooked until the yolk is solid all the way through

Fly cake or Roach cake: raisin cake or huckleberry pie

Foreign Entanglements: plate of spaghetti

Frenchman's delight: pea soup

Frog sticks: french fries

Fry two/Let the sun shine: 2 fried eggs with unbroken yolks

G

GAC: Grilled American cheese sandwich. This was also called "jack" (from the pronunciation of "GAC")

Gallery: booth

Gravel train: sugar bowl

Graveyard stew: milk toast; buttered toast, sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon, and dropped into a bowl of warm milk

H

Hail: ice

Heart Attack on Rack: biscuits and gravy

Hemorrhage: tomato ketchup

Hen Fruit: Eggs, typically boiled

High and dry: a plain sandwich without butter, mayonnaise, or lettuce

Hockey puck: a hamburger, well done

Hold the hail: no ice

Honeymoon salad: lettuce alone

Hot top: hot chocolate

Hounds on an Island: franks and beans

Houseboat/Dagwood Special: a banana split made with ice cream and sliced bananas

Hug one/Squeeze one: a glass of orange juice

I

Ice the rice: rice pudding with ice cream

In the alley: served as a side dish

In the weeds: a waitress/cook that can't keep up with the tables.

Irish turkey: corned beef and cabbage

J

Jack Benny: (named after Jack Benny, the comedian) cheese with bacon

Java/Joe: coffee

K

Keep off the grass: no lettuce

L

Ladybug: fountain man

Let it walk/Go for a walk/On wheels/Give it shoes: an order to go, a takeaway order

Life preservers/Sinkers: doughnuts

Lighthouse: bottle of ketchup

Looseners: prunes, so called because of their supposed laxative effect.

Love Apples: tomatoes

Lumber: A toothpick

M

An M.D.: a Dr Pepper

Machine Oil: syrup

Magoo: custard pie

Maiden's delight: cherries

Marry: bring items together for cleaning up, i.e. marry the salt and pepper.

Mayo: mayonnaise

Mike and Ike/The twins: salt and pepper shakers

Million on a platter: a plate of baked beans

Mississippi Mud/Yellow paint: mustard

Moo juice/Cow juice/Baby juice/Sweet Alice: milk

Mully/Bossy in a bowl: beef stew, so called because "Bossy" was a common name for a cow.

Murdered: a fried egg with the yolk broken into the egg white.

A Murphy: a potato

Mystery in the alley: a side order of hash

N

Nervous pudding: gelatin

No cow: without milk

Noah's boy: a slice of ham (Ham was Noah's second son)

Noah's boy on bread: a ham sandwich

Noah's boy with Murphy carrying a wreath: ham and potatoes with cabbage

O

On a Rail fast, as in "Fries, on a rail!"

  On the fly:  fast, as in "I need that burger on the fly"

On the hoof: any kind of meat, cooked rare

One from the Alps: a Swiss cheese sandwich

One on the City: a glass of water

P

Paint it red: put ketchup on an item

Pair of drawers: two cups of coffee

Peel it off the wall: add a leaf of lettuce

Pigs in a blanket: sausages wrapped in pancakes

Pin a rose on it: add onion to an order

Pittsburgh: something burning, toasted or charred

Pope Benedict: an eggs benedict

Put a hat on it: add ice cream

Put out the lights and cry: an order of liver and onions

Q

Quail: Hungarian goulash

R

Rabbit food: lettuce

Radio Sandwich: tuna fish sandwich

Raft: toast

Run it through the Garden: any sandwich, usually a hamburger, with Lettuce, Tomato and Onion added

S

Sea dust: Salt

Schmeer: cream cheese, usually on a bagel.

Shake one in the hay: strawberry milkshake

Shingle with a shimmy and a shake: buttered toast with jam or jelly

Shit on a shingle/S.O.S.: minced dried beef with gravy on toast, mostly because it was a reviled standard fare in army messes

Shivering Hay: strawberry gelatin

Shoot from the south/Atlanta special: Coca-Cola, probably a reference to the fact that the headquarters of Coca-Cola is in Atlanta, Georgia.

Shot out of the blue bottle: Bromo-Seltzer

Slab of moo--let him chew it: rare rump steak

Sleigh Ride Special: vanilla pudding

Smear: margarine

Soup jockey: waitress

Splash of red noise: a bowl of tomato soup

A spot with a twist: a cup of tea with lemon

Stack/Short stack: order of pancakes

A stack of Vermont: pancakes with maple syrup

Sun kiss/Oh jay (O.J.): orange juice

Sunny-side up: the eggs are fried without flipping them, so the yolk looks just like a sun on white background

Sweep the kitchen/Sweepings/Clean up the kitchen: a plate of hash

T

The works: a hamburger, hotdog, sandwich or similar with all condiments on it.

Throw it in the mud: add chocolate syrup

Twelve alive in a shell: a dozen raw oysters

Two cows, make them cry: Two hamburgers with onions

V

Vermont: maple syrup

W

Walk a cow through the garden: Hamburger with lettuce, tomato and onion

Warts: Olives

Wax: American cheese

Well-dressed diner: codfish

Whiskey: rye bread

Whiskey down: rye toast

White Cow: vanilla milkshake

Wreath: cabbage

Wreck ‘em: scrambled eggs

Y

Yesterday, today, and forever: hash

Yum Yum/Sand: sugar

Z

Zeppelin: sausage

Zeppelins in a fog: sausages and mashed potatoes

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Motala the Elephant

Motala the elephant lost her front leg after she stood on a land mine, so today she's getting fitted out with a new one. 

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Atlantis

The Space Shuttle Atlantis in orbit as seen from earth with the sun in the background.  NASA

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Today's Activities at Coquina Crossing

7:45 & 8:45 Aqua Aerobics
9:00 Tennis
10:00-2:00 All Stars Practice
5:00 BYOB Social

Tomorrow's Activities at Coquina Crossing

7:00 Clubhouse Bunco

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Click once a day to help feed rescue animals.

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Coquina Daily Sunset

by James Laurence Stewart