Salem Diner in Salem, Massachusetts, US. Diner lingo is a kind of American verbal slang used by cooks and chefs in diners and diner-style restaurants, and by the wait staff to communicate their orders to the cooks.

Learn to speak diner lingo! Diner lingo was most popular in American diners and luncheonettes from the 1920s to the 1970s, although its roots can be traced all the way back to the 1850s.

Sep 20, 2012 · The origins of most diner phrases are shrouded in mystery or lost to history, and different regions and restaurants use different terminology for the same items, but this list should give you an...

Jan 5, 2022 · This list of diner lingo has common restaurant phrases and slang terms with their definitions. Brush up on your diner knowledge with this kitchen vocabulary.

Diner lingo (sometimes called diner slang, or short-order lingo) has a rich history in American diners and restaurants, and now it's making a comeback! We've compiled the largest diner lingo dictionary here at dinerlingo.com so you can learn the jargon too, whether you work in the food industry, or if you're just looking for a little entertainment!

Here is a list of the most popular diner lingo terms as voted by visitors to this site. If you enjoy this list, we hope you'll share it with your friends and help spread the fun!

Sep 1, 2015 · For many years during the 19 th and 20 th centuries, diner employees and short-order cooks all across the United States of America, would come up with idioms known as “diner lingo” for these orders in order to speed up production.

May 31, 2017 · Similar to visiting a foreign country where English is not spoken, diner lingo is virtually unknown outside the United States. The light-hearted, tongue-in-cheek and even sometimes risqué phrases could be heard in wide use in busy diners during the 1920’s continuing on well into the 1970’s.

Nov 16, 2016 · Originally published in 1941, this pocket-sized treasury preserves the language of diners and roadside restaurants during their golden age in the 30s and 40s.

With robust menus that often boasted more than one hundred items, as well as dozens of different ways to prepare basic items like hamburgers and eggs, the early nineteen-hundreds saw the advent of diner lingo, a colorful system used by cook and wait staff to help them remember customer orders.