THE AMERICAN THESAURUS of Slang may one day be the last place you’ll find diner talk, a rich and colorful dialect soon to be as extinct as Aramaic.

Adam and Eve on a raft—wreck ’em (an order for two scrambled eggs on toast); massacre the eggs, spoil ’em, wreck ’em (scramble the eggs); flop ’em, fry two and flop ’em, over easy, sink ’em (fry the eggs on both sides); let the sun shine, sunny-side up (fry the eggs on one side only); make it cackle (add eggs to the order); pass two (an order for soft-boiled eggs); bale of hay, drown it (an order for a salad with dressing); brown the griddles (prepare buck-wheat cakes); choke one (prepare a hamburger); sweep out the kitchen, sweep the floor, the gentleman says he will take a chance (an order for hash); cremate the bacon (cook the bacon crisp); draw one (an order for a cup of coffee); draw one black, draw one in the dark, hold the cow, no cow (an order for coffee without cream): draw a blonde (an order for coffee with cream); dress one pig (an order for a ham sandwich); drown it (add dressing); rush it (add Russian dressing); don’t forget the shoes (an order for shoestring potatoes); going away, going for a ride, going for a walk, let it walk, put on a step-in (a to-go order); a dog to go for a walk, he wants to take the dog for a walk (a to-go order for a hot dog); dress a pig to go for a walk (a to-go order for a ham sandwich); grill it (toast the sandwich on the grill); grind a doggy (make a hamburger); heat one, one up, whip one (make a cup of hot chocolate); hug one (fix a glass of orange juice); ice the rice (put ice cream on rice pudding); let him chew it, let it bleed, make it bloody (cook it rare); slab the moo—let him chew it (fry the steak rare); lubricate the toast (butter the toast); naturalize the cheese (change the cheese sandwich from Swiss to American); one down, one on, on, stack one (an order for toast); one up (an order for soup); pin a rose (on it), put out the lights and cry (add onions); put six in the grease (fry six oysters); roast two on a slice of squeal (an order for ham and eggs); spoil the cow (an order for buttermilk); stir up the worms (an order for spaghetti); strain ’em (an order for mashed potatoes); stretch it (make the drink a large one); stretch sweet Alice (an order for a large glass of milk); toast two on a slice of squeal (an order for ham and eggs); unchain one (an order for a hot dog); unchain one—in the nude (an order for a hot dog without relish); wash the dishrag (an order for soup); on deck (the cook’s announcement that the dish is ready); eighty-six (the cook’s announcement that he is out of the item); lady with a baby! (a warning that one is coming through carrying a loaded tray); get a hammer! (said when someone drops dishes); Pittsburgh! (a warning that toast is burning); thirteen! (a warning that the boss is around).

THE AMERICAN THESAURUS OF SLANG, WITH SUPPLEMENT. A COMPLETE REFERENCE BOOK OF COLLOQUIAL SPEECH, BY LESTER V. BERREY AND MELVIN VAN DEN BARK. COPYRIGHT 1942, 1947, BY THOMAS Y. CROWELL COMPANY. FIFTH PRINTING, JANUARY 1947.