[tang-soo]

To “86” someone is to banish them, and if they return, they are charged with trespass.

During the early 1900s, American cafes and diners adopted numeric codes for handling customers' orders. "86" was used to "Cancel an order". From there, "86" was adopted to mean kill something - like "That project got 86-ed".

For years, I have claimed the French abortion pill referred to "RU-486" in the US was given that name intentionally.

Knowing "86" implies killing or death, that means the name of the pill has the meaning, "Are you for death?"

[WildHighlander57]

I looked up the term “86’ed” and found this:

“
eigh·ty-six
/ˌādēˈsiks/
verbINFORMAL•NORTH AMERICAN
past tense: 86ed; past participle: 86ed
1.
eject or bar (someone) from a restaurant, bar, etc.
“they were accused of cheating, and eighty-sixed from their favorite casino”
2.
reject, discard, or cancel.
“the passwords will be 86ed by next October”
Origin

1930s (as a noun, used in restaurants and bars to indicate that a menu item is unavailable or that a customer is not to be served): perhaps rhyming slang for nix1.
“

As for that pill name “RU486”, that acronym always got me thinking it read “are you (something something something)” and I wasn’t sure what the “something”s were; your take on it clears it up !

[meyer]

During the early 1900s, American cafes and diners adopted numeric codes for handling customers' orders. "86" was used to "Cancel an order". From there, "86" was adopted to mean kill something - like "That project got 86-ed".

In the world of electric power and transmission, relays designed around breaker tripping and automatic schemes have a function number. An example, a "51" function is an overcurrent relay, designed to initiate tripping of a circuit breaker if a line or device is overloaded.

Of course, there is a function number "86" which is a lockout relay - this prevents any circuit breakers from re-closing (turning back on) until manual intervention is done, to prevent the accidental re-connecting of the errant equipment to the energized grid. If a power substation is "86'ed", it is not going to come back on line automatically.

[ponygirl]

If you’ve ever heard the Pain Teens song “RU486,” it really sounds like she is singing “Are you for eighty-six?”