The Lost Language of the American Diner Quiz

Answer: Hockey puck

"Shingle" and "Raft" are euphemisms for "toast". "Shingle with a shimmy and a shake" is buttered toast with jam or jelly. Whiskey is diner-speak for rye bread, "Whiskey Down" is therefore rye toast. ("Down" probably comes from the down motion to operate the toaster.) "Dough well done with cow to cover" is toast with butter. "Burn the British" is a toasted English muffin.

A "hockey puck" is a well done hamburger. Very clever terminology don't you think? I used to have my hamburgers medium to well done but the thought of a waitress yelling out "One hockey puck" across a crowded diner would be mortifying. I have my hamburger medium now (and it admittedly tastes better than a well done hamburger and certainly better than a hockey puck).

I ate my first (and last) hockey puck in O'Charley's Diner in Spartanburg, South Carolina. (I thought I had picked up the local way of ordering toast).

Answer: Heart Attack on Rack

The hint was in the diner location: A heart attack on rack is a biscuit and gravy. A particular personal favorite is red-eye gravy which is made with black coffee. I had zeppelin (sausage) on the side for almost a perfect breakfast.

Eggs, maybe because they have a myriad of ways to prepare them, have perhaps the widest variety of diner terms. "Wreck 'em" are scrambled eggs (logical when you know what it means but the term is not intuitive). A "deadeye" is a poached egg. Pope Benedict is Eggs Benedict liberally sprinkled with salt and pepper (Mike and Ike). "Hamlet's Problem with His Warts" is Danish topped with two poached eggs and olives. Terms for fried eggs such as "over easy" become more colorful as "Flop two". "Fry Two, Let the Sun Shine" is two fried eggs, sunny-side up.

Answer: First Lady

There are several reasons why there are so many biblical references in diner-speak. One of them is that it was thought that many short-order cooks could not read or write but they knew about the bible and its teachings. From the bible we know that Eve, the first woman, was created from Adam's rib. Hence the name "First Lady" even though the obvious connotation is a US President's wife. Add some frog sticks (French fries) and that is one of my favourite diner meals.
"Adam and Eve on a Raft" is two poached eggs on toast.
"Noah's Boy" is Ham (being the second Noah's sons along with Shem and Japeth) with potatoes (Murphy - an Irish name) and cabbage (a wreath).
Eve is apple pie (natch!) with a slice of cheese (moldy lid) and ice cream (a hat) on top.

Answer: Put Out the Lights and Cry

"Put out the lights and cry" is a dish of liver and onions. (Perfect with home fries). "Lights" refers to any meat that is of internal organ origin, liver being the most popular. "Make 'em Cry" is an obvious reference to onions. Therefore "two cows make 'em cry" is two burgers with onions. "Yellow blanket on a dead cow" is a cheeseburger. and "Burn one, drag it through the garden and pin a rose on it" is a burger, lettuce, tomatoes and onions.
The best liver and onions I have eaten came from Russ's Dinor, Erie PA. (Note spelling of "Dinor" a feature of the region). My friend Spit swears by the meatloaf and green peppers sandwich.

The best burger I have eaten was the Poor Boy Burger from the Parkette Drive-In in Lexington, Kentucky.

Answer: Leaving Dolly Parton high and dry

I was in a Knoxville, Tennessee diner and heard the server yell out "Leaving Dolly Parton high and dry". I told the waitress I would have the same. I was mortified to receive two unadorned chicken breasts (which I then blushingly figured out the derivation of the name). The high and dry refered to no condiments but when used with sandwiches it means no butter, mayonnaise or lettuce.
Family reunion is a chicken and egg sandwich.
Irish Turkey is corned beef and cabbage.
Graveyard stew is milk toast: buttered toast, sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon, swimming in a bowl of warm milk.

Answer: Usually an inexpensive meat and three vegetable dish

The American diner is a cultural icon. It has its roots in the north-eastern part of the country where it offered inexpensive meals to shift and factory workers and other manual workers who worked shifts and needed access to places like diners to be able to eat reasonably well. As such, some diners were open 24 hours. The blue plate special also has roots in working class America. It was an inexpensive complete meal (Diner-speak: loaded) of meat and three vegetables. The dish changed daily or there was a set day for certain meal types. Often the actual meal was not listed - it was only known as a blue plate special - the server would explain what was available on the day. Traditionally the meal was served on a blue plate or a plate divided into three compartments: The blue plate was usually a blue patterned plate of chinese origin which were cheap and available (a handy commodity in depression years); the three compartment plate was a legacy of the American railroad dining car.

Chicken-fried steak is a Texas speciality (though it forms part of neighboring Oklahoma's State Meal). It consists of an inexpensive cut of steak, pounded thin, and covered with breadcrumbs and then deep fried like chicken (A-ha!)and served with a peppered milk gravy.

Answer: Double Double

"Draw One" is well known as coffee. If you "draw one through the dark", it is black coffee. "Blond with sand" is coffee with cream and sugar. Coffee with half milk and half cream is "50/50 Joe".
"Double Double" is coffee with two sugars and double helping of cream. However this term is associated with Tim Hortons which is a Canadian franchise and would never, never be heard in an American diner.
My favourite coffee story (and there are variations depending whether I was in Florida, Georgia or Mississippi when I was served) is "D'y'all want Nothun coffee or Suthun coffee?". I discovered that "Suthun" coffee was half regular coffee beans, half chicory with various quantities of molasses depending on the state. "Nothun" coffee" is presumably regular coffee which I have never ordered when given said ultimatum.

Answer: A beef and bean burrito (extra large)

When a "Stampede Blanket" states on the menu it is extra large, it really is extra large. You can "red and white it" (add salsa and sour cream) or "sour it" (add lemon) or "con lumbre'" it which is hot sauce added.
Chicken enchiladas are known as "Cluck and Wrap".
A fish dinner is known as "Friday's Choice" which probably has its origins in the high proportion of practising Catholics in the region who do not eat meat on Friday. If you "Tie it down", you have ordered a burrito covered in melted cheese.

Answer: 86

When you "86" something either you are 1) cancelling the order or 2) the cook is telling you we are out of an item. or 3) it is a refusal to serve a particular customer with a particular item.
There are many reasons why "86" came to represent "cancel that":
1) Article 86 of the New York State Liquor Code defined the instances where a customer could be refused alcohol ie '86ed'
2) Graves are usually eight feet long six feet deep
3) Chumley's Restaurant, at 86 Bedford Street, Greenwich Village, NYC, had a habit of throwing unruly customers out through the back door. During Prohibition, Chumley's was run as a speakeasy. When the police were about to raid the place, someone would shout "86," and everyone, clientele and staff would exit through the rear door.
4) During the great depression, soup kitchens would often make just enough soup for 85 people. If you were unlucky to be behind recipient number number 85, you were '86ed'.
5) In Delmonico's Restaurant in NYC, where menu item #86 was the house steak, this item was often unavailable due to its popularity.

Answer: Eggs and baked beans

Cackleberries are eggs, also known as cacklefruit for obvious reasons. The origin of the name is unknown, but its first recorded use was in the Ozarks in the 1880. The origin of the name whistleberries is also unknown but the word is thought to have originated on the western trails of 19th century America where beans were a staple and molasses (found in baked beans) helped preserve the beans on their long journey.

The whistle comes from well, given what beans do to your digestive function, I will let you figure it out.

As for the fruit I waited till I go home where I knew I could order rock melon (Americans call this cantaloupe) and pawpaw (papaya) without becoming confused.