20 phrases you need to know to work as a soda jerk
A soda jerk Image by Getty Images
Editor’s Note: Our lox columnist has written about his past life as a soda jerk in the Bronx during the 1940s and 50s. At that time, working in that trade meant you had to speak the language of the lunch counter. We asked Len for a list of some of the most memorable phrases he used back then. Memorize them and you could be on your way to being a soda jerk too:
86: We’re out of it
95: A customer left without paying
99: The boss or an inspector is on the premises
Adam and Eve on a raft: 2 poached eggs on toast
Adam’s ale: a glass of water
All black: chocolate soda with chocolate ice cream
Black and white: chocolate soda with vanilla ice cream
Burn one: Make a hamburger on the grill
Cow juice: milk
Dead eye: a poached egg
GABC: a grilled American cheese sandwich with bacon
High and dry: a sandwich with nothing on it
Houseboat: a banana split
In the alley: on the side
Oh gee: Orange ade
On the hoof: cooked rare
On wheels: to go
Sea dust: salt
Stretch one, paint it red: Cherry Coke
Yum yum: sugar
Len Berk is the Forward’s loc columnist. He worked behind the counter at Zabar’s for 26 years.
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