Ru486

I just wanted to drop a line about the phrase "86ed" it is a police code for homicide and is also found in the patent for the day-after-pill (not to be controvercial, but it is truthfully called) ru486.

We had to hesitate before posting this "question," but went ahead in the spirit of open discourse. No, Angela, 86 is not a police term for homicide. That's a little fib somebody made up to create a rumor about the naming of RU-486. To make a political point ("see? It's a conspiracy of murderers pushing this pill!") some people are willing to distort the facts, and hope it gets repeated.

The phrase '86' was used as part of restaurant 'lingo' when I was growing up. When the cook ran out of a particular item on the menu, he would inform the waitresses (as they were then called) to '86 the beef stew'--to mean it was no longer available. Other stuff was 'Adam and Eve on a Raft, Wreck 'Em' to mean scrambled eggs and toast.