Something that’s been lost in my lifetime is the colorful lingo of the local diner. As a boy I remember sitting in a small town diner and hearing waitresses and short order cooks communicate in a code all their own and was fascinated with it. Now with fast food corporate dining places taking over from the small mom and pop diners, you get electronic messages on a screen referring to specific menu options, and diner lingo is a dying artform.
This is a tip of the hat to some of the memorable diner lingo from the now receding and distant past, just for the sake of nostalgia.
1. Adam and Eve on a raft – Two poached eggs on toast
2. Adam’s ale – Water
3. cow paste – Butter
4. Moo juice – Milk
5. Belch water – Seltzer or soda water
6. Whistleberries – Baked beans
7. Blonde with Sand – Coffee with cream and sugar.
8. Chicks on a raft – Eggs on toast
9. Bossy in a bowl – Beef stew
10. Bow-wow – A hot dog
11. Cackleberries – Eggs
12. Bloodhound in the Hay – A hot dog with sauerkraut
13. A cup of mud – A cup of coffee
14. Draw one in the dark – A cup of black coffee
15. Mystery in the alley – A side order of hash
16. Cat’s eyes – Tapioca pudding
17. Hemorrhage – Ketchup
18. Frog sticks – French fries
19. Heart Attack on Rack – Biscuits and gravy
20. Wreck ‘em – Scrambled eggs
21. Hockey puck – A hamburger, well done
22. First lady – Spareribs (probably a pun on Eve being made from Adam’s rib)
23. Mississippi Mud – mustard
24. Wax – American cheese
25. On the hoof – Any kind of meat cooked rare
26. Hounds on an Island – Franks and beans
27. Nervous pudding – Jello
28. Sea dust – salt
29. Radio – A tuna salad sandwich on toast (“tuna down” or tuna on toast, sounds like “turn it down” the command often repeated when the radio is on in the kitchen)
30. Noah’s boy – A slice of ham (Ham was one of the Biblical Noah’s sons)
31. Whiskey – rye bread
32. Whiskey down – rye toast
34. Flop two – Two fried eggs over easy
