Diner slang, the colorful lingo used by cooks and waitresses to communicate orders, dates back to the mid-1800s.
You would expect cultures everywhere to dream up clever ways to describe food orders — to say “pin a rose on it” instead of “add a slice of onion.” But no, diner slang is strictly an American thing. Apparently, we’re the only ones zany enough to appreciate this particular art form.
Some of the lingo, such as “mayo,” “BLT,” and “cup of Java,” has crossed over into popular use. Other terms are more obscure and still confined to use in countless diners and lunch counters across the country.
Below, for your amusement and edification, is a list of slang terms commonly used in such facilities. Order up!
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Adam & Eve — Two poached eggs
Adam & Eve on a log — Two poached eggs with link sausage
Adam & Eve on a raft — Two poached eggs on toast
Arnold Palmer — Mixture of sweet tea and lemonade
Atlanta Special — Coca-Cola
Axle grease — Butter
B & B — Bread and butter
Baby juice — Milk
Baled hay — Shredded Wheat
Battle Creek — Corn Flakes (From Battle Creek, Michigan, home of Kellogg)
Belch water — Soda water
Bird — Chicken
Bird in a nest — Fried egg on toast with a hole cut in the center
Birdseed — Cereal
Black and blue — Rare steak seared on the outside
Black cow — Chocolate milk
Blowout patches — Pancakes
Boil some leaves — Tea
Bossy in a bowl — Beef stew
Bowl of red — Bowl of chili
Bow-wow — Hot dog
Break it and shake it — Add a raw egg to a drink
Bridge party — Four of anything
Bucket of hail — Glass of ice
Burn it — Well done
Burn one — Put a hamburger on the grill
Burn the British — Toasted English muffin
C-board — Take-out order (cardboard)
Cackleberries — Eggs
Cackleberries out west — Western omelet
Cat heads — Biscuits
Check the ice — Look at the pretty girl who just came in
Checkerboards — Waffles
Chicago — Pineapple sundae
Chicks on a raft — Eggs on toast
China — Rice pudding
Coney Island — Hot dog
Cops and robbers — Donuts and coffee
Cowboy — Western omelet
Cowboy with spurs — Western omelet with French fries
Cow feed — Salad
Crowd — Three of anything (Three’s a crowd)
Deadeye — Poached egg
Dog biscuits — Crackers
Don’t cry over it — Omit the onions
Dough well done with cow to cover — Buttered toast
Drag one through the garden — Add lettuce and tomato
Drag one through Wisconsin — Add cheese
Draw one — Cup of coffee
Draw one, blonde — Coffee with cream
Draw one, blonde with sand — Coffee with cream and sugar
Draw one in the dark — Black coffee
Drown the kids — Boiled eggs
Dry stack — Pancakes, no butter
Eve with a lid on — Apple pie (Refers to the biblical Eve & apple and the pie crust)
First lady — Spareribs (Refers to Eve being created from one of Adam’s ribs)
Fish eyes — Tapioca pudding
Flop two — Two fried eggs over easy
Fly cake — Raisin cake
Frog sticks — French fries
Georgia pie — Peach pie
Gentleman will take a chance — Hash
Going for a walk — Take-out order
Halitosis — Garlic
Hemorrhage — Ketchup
High and dry — Plain sandwich with no condiments
Hockey puck — Hamburger well-done
Hold the grass — No lettuce
Hold the hail — No ice
Houseboat — Banana split
In the alley — Serve as a side dish
Irish turkey — Corned beef
Jack — Grilled American cheese sandwich (GAC = Jack)
Jack Benny — Grilled cheese sandwich with bacon
Jack Tommy — Grilled cheese sandwich with tomato
Keep off the grass — Hold the lettuce
Let him chew it — Rare steak
Life preserver — Donut
Looseners — Prunes
Love apples — Tomatoes
Lumber — Toothpicks
M.D. — Dr. Pepper
Machine oil — Syrup
Make it cry — Add onion
Mike and Ike — Salt and pepper shakers
Moo juice — Milk
Mousetrap — Grilled cheese sandwich
Mud — Black coffee
Murphy — Potatoes
Nervous pudding — Jell-O
Noah’s boy — Slice of ham (Ham was Noah’s son)
No cow — Without milk
Number 5 — Milk
Number 41 — Lemonade
Number 51 — Hot chocolate
Number 55 — A root beer
Number 86 — Cancel the order or don’t serve that customer
On the hoof — Meat served rare
On wheels — Take-out order
One on the city — Glass of water
One from the Alps — Swiss cheese sandwich
Paint it red — Add ketchup
Pin a rose on it — Add onion
Put a hat on it — Add a scoop of ice cream
Pittsburgh — Something is burning (Lots of smokestacks in Pittsburgh)
Put out the lights and cry — Liver and onions
Rabbit food — Lettuce
Radio — Tuna salad (Tuner — get it?)
Sand — Sugar
Sea dust — salt
Shake one in the hay — Strawberry milkshake
Shingle with a shimmy and a shake — Order of toast with butter and jelly
Sinkers and suds — Donuts and coffee
SOS (sh*t on a shingle) — Chipped beef on toast
Squeeze one — Glass of orange juice
Sunny side up — Fried egg with runny yolk, cooked without turning
Sweet Alice — Milk
Throw it in the mud — Add chocolate syrup
Two dots and a dash — Two fried eggs and a strip of bacon
Vermont — Maple syrup
Warts –Olives
Whiskey — Rye bread (Used because “rye” and “white” sound too similar)
Whiskey down — Rye toast
Whistleberries — Baked beans (A reference to flatulence)
White cow — Vanilla milkshake
Why bother — Decaf with skim milk
Wreck ‘em — Scrambled eggs
Yellow paint — Mustard
Yum-yum — Sugar
Zeppelin — Sausage
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