diner lingo

diner lingo (uncountable)

1. (chiefly US) A lexicon of slang formerly common, and still sometimes used, among cooks and waitstaff at diners (restaurants of a certain type).

   Hypernyms: lingo; slang

   • 1983, The Washingtonian‎^[1], volume 19, numbers 1-3, page 241:

     […] there is plenty of cowboy food slang and diner lingo, and the curious cook will be tempted to experiment with the recipes for such oddities as nun's toast, Minnehaha cake, and an ominous-sounding colonial dessert called "grunt." And there is much to admire in Mariani's "Toward a Misunderstanding of American Food," […]

   • 1988, American Heritage Society, editor, American Heritage Society's Americana‎^[2], volume 16, page 8:

     His larger reproductions feature lighted interiors, working neon, and revolving signs that spell out colorful diner lingo: "Tail of the Pup," [etc]

   • 1991, School Food Service Journal‎^[3], volume 45, page 54:

     Students rewrote school menus in diner lingo, and the menus were posted in the dining area. Other students had fun trying to translate the menu items.

• As with names for groups of animals and names of phobias, members of the public sometimes misunderstand the degree of real-world usage of such terms (in relevant occupations), versus the popular word game of creating or collecting them.