->"Give Aunt Martha a cockroach and mail off a series of strongly worded letters to a fringe publication concerning the tax code."
-->-- '''RiffTrax''', ''{{Transformers}}''

A RuleOfFunny trope. A scene takes place in a restaurant, the waitress takes the diners' orders, and after taking their menus, she calls toward the kitchen something that sounds like utter gibberish. Brooklyn accents are typical of these scenes.

There is some TruthInTelevision to this: Waiters can and will use wacky names as mnemonic devices, and customers use slang for the convenience (like in many other transactions).

Common in, but not exclusive to, the GreasySpoon. May contain LampshadeHanging as to the nature of the food. Not to be confused with [[SpySpeak Hash(ish) House Lingo]], [[MistakenForBadass though it might be]].
----
!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Comics]]
* One story arc in ''GasolineAlley'' involved Slim filling in for the regular cook at the local diner, and being unfamiliar with this slang.
* In a ''{{Garfield}}'' strip, Jon asks for a hamburger with extra onions. The waitress then turns to the kitchen and yells "BURN A COW AND MAKE HER CRY!" which causes Jon and Garfield to lose their appetites.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* ''Disney/TheEmperorsNewGroove'': After Pacha and Kuzco order two specials and an onion ring log, the waitress calls, "Ordering! Two heart-burns and a deep-fried doorstop."
** Then, when Kronk takes over for the cook, she gives him a rapid-fire list of orders, and he pauses for a beat before confirming in jargon.
--->'''Waitress:''' "Ordering! Three pork combos, extra bacon on the side, two chili cheese samplers, a basket of liver and onion rings, a catch of the day, and a steak cut in the shape of a trout. You got all that, honey?"
--->'''Kronk:''' "Three oinkers wearing pants, plate of hot air, basket of Grandma's breakfast and change the bull to a gill, got it."
*** He left out the catch of the day.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]
* In ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit,'' Eddie orders "scotch on the rocks" from a Toon waiter, [[LiteralMinded realizes whom he's addressing]] and corrects it to, "And I mean ''ice!''", but the waiter brings him a shot glass with gravel in it anyway.
* Rather hilarious in its incongruity, in ''StarWars: AttackOfTheClones''.
* ''{{Heat}}'' features bursts of Hash House Lingo in the diner where Breeden is slaving when [=McCauley=] offers him a job as getaway driver. [=McCauley=] makes the new order $12 million to go!
* In ''Film/TheThreeStooges'' short "Playing the Ponies", when someone orders two eggs on toast Moe shouts to Curly the cook "Adam and Eve on a raft!" -- followed by "And ''wreck'' 'em!" after the customer clarifies that he wants the eggs scrambled rather than fried.
* OlderThanTelevision: In the Creator/FattyArbuckle short ''The Waiters' Ball'', a customer asks for pork and beans, and the waiter shouts to Fatty to make "One grunt with a thousand on a plate!".
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* The ''Frank and Ernest'' picture books (nothing to do with the comic strip) are about an anthropomorphic elephant and bear encountering the colorful argot of various professions. The [[http://www.librarything.com/work/1426103 first book]] is about diner-speak.
* A chapter of the first ''OddThomas'' book details Odd's normal work day at the diner he works at. The only thing that ''isn't'' diner lingo is an order for ''hash browns''.
* Colonel Cyrus in ''The Virginian'' translates our hero's plain English order for a steak and eggs: "One slaughter in the pan, and let the blood drip!"
* In the ''Katie Kazoo'' book ''Out to Lunch'', the lunch ladies use diner-speak in the cafeteria kitchen.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* An episode of ''ReadingRainbow'': [=LeVar=] Burton wound up just guessing and getting every order [[LethalChef horribly, horribly wrong]].
* Once on ''TheJeffersons'', Tom Willis ordered a drink "on the rocks. And hold the ice."
* In an episode of ''DharmaAndGreg'', the eponymous couple start talking like this (especially Dharma) when they have to pretend to be the temporary staff of a diner (and relatives of the owners) in order to avoid being arrested for breaking and entering. ItMakesSenseInContext.
* One episode of ''GilmoreGirls'' has Lorelai stepping in when Luke is indisposed. Lorelai being Lorelai, that comes complete with diner speak.
* On ''{{Friends}}'' Monica is dubious that Phoebe can be a waitress. Phoebe gives the following demonstration of her abilities, too bad catering a funeral doesn't really require this kind of lingo:
-->'''Phoebe:''' I can be a waitress. Okay, watch this. Um, gimme two number ones, 86 the bacon, one Adam and Eve on a raft and wreck 'em, la-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la-la.
* In the Series/{{Stargate SG-1}} episode "Threads," Daniel Jackson is stuck in a diner on a higher plane of existence. Oma Desala is his waitress, and she attempts to use the lingo on occasion. Amusingly, it's the most straightforward she ever is for the entire series (on previous appearances, she spoke primarily in koans).
* In one episode of ''{{Frasier}}'', Niles orders a decaf latte with skimmed milk at Cafe Nervosa, and the barrista calls out "One gutless wonder!"

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
* Heard on occasion on the ''SesameStreet'' "Grover as waiter" skits.
* Gladys from TheMuppetShow talked like this sometimes. Miss Piggy's order of a watercress sandwich and rhubarb juice was "The Weight Watcher's Special". Annie Sue's large order of a milkshake, burger, fries and apple pie was a "Kamikaze".
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Stand-up Comedy]]
* In a comedy performance at Carnegie Hall, Ray Romano talked about formerly being a diner waiter, and noted that knowing the language actually hurt him in later jobs. When he later worked at a pharmacy:
-->'''Woman:''' I need some Sominex and some condoms...\\
'''Ray:''' ''(to the back)'' Sleeping beauty's got a date! ''(to the woman)'' anything else?\\
'''Woman:''' Um, I can't swallow these, do you have them in a suppository?\\
'''Ray:''' ''(to the back)'' The bridge is closed, she's taking the tunnel!
* Kyle Cease has this joke:
-->I hate whenever you go into a coffee shop, no matter what you order they have their own way of calling it to the back. Like you could be like, "Hi, I'll have a tall mocha iced latte blended fun." And then the lady's like, "BLEEUH!, anything else?"
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* In ''SamAndMax Season 2'', ordering something from Stinky's diner will result in this.
--> '''Sam:''' Chicken chow mein with chocolate covered raisins and a caramel swirl.
--> '''Stinky:''' Sal, get me a hyperactive spider monkey in a powder-blue cardigan. And why don't we go ahead and wrestle him to the ground and tickle him until he pees.
--> '''Max:''' I have got to see what goes on in this kitchen!
** The gag can also be reversed: Sam will rattle of a completely random sequence of animals/actions/farmyard implements to throw Stinky off. Her response?
--> '''Stinky:''' Sal, a Number 3!
* The Enclave cook in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}}'' will gladly, if you ask for food, serve you "shit on a shingle" and points to the "snow and fly shit" on the table. "Shit on a shingle" is chipped beef on toast, "snow and fly shit" are salt and pepper.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* Given a mad science flavour in ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'':
-->"[[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20100524 Whaddalitbe, pal?]]"
** Ultimately ''weaponized'' when the Jagermonster trying to duel him for his hat finally thinks to order a "Prince of Sturmhalten's Big Bet" - a hat ''sandwich.''
-->[[FunetikAksent "Und I vants it to go!"]]
* ''Muertitos'' does it [[http://muertitos.comicgenesis.com/d/20060526.html here]], with a little twist at the end.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* The RiffTrax of ''{{Transformers}}'' contains a bit of this after Bonecrusher scoops up a car in a way that looks like flipping a pancake. It begins as actual diner lingo before spinning off into the absurd, culminating in the page quote seen above.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* In an episode of ''JimmyNeutron'', the three boys get jobs at a restaurant. Sheen is at the drive-thru window and calls out the order. Carl replies, "Is he doing the hokey-pokey or the chicken dance?" Sheen looks back at the car and asks, "Would you like fries with that?"
** This becomes a running gag in the episode, to the point where the following exchange occurs when Jimmy quits:
-->'''Sheen:''' Hey, Carl. Gimme a fat taxi driver with a Porsche accent.\\
'''Carl:''' You want a hamburger with peanut butter?\\
'''Sheen:''' No, but if Jimmy's leaving, we're gonna need a ride home.
* Used occasionally in ''SpongeBobSquarePants''.
-->'''Bubble Bass:''' I'll take a double triple barfy deluxe, on a raft, 4x4 animal style, extra shingles with the shimmy and a squeeze, light axle grease, make it cry, burn it, and let it swim. \\
'''Squidward:''' We serve food here, sir.
** As it turns out, this is [[http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad49/skrewer9/The%20Bubble%20Bass%20Burger/BBB_8.jpg?t=1294973109 actual terminology]]
** Spongebob himself seems to have his own terminology, shouting out such things as "One Crying Johnny!" and "A dozen crying cows on a farm!" in the same episode.
* ''{{Doug}}'' takes this trope to the extreme in the pilot when Doug tries to order from the Honker Burger for the first time, and the cashier doesn't even ''understand'' the real names for the menu items:
-->'''Doug:''' Hi, I'd like three hamburgers, one no pickles, one no onions, one fish sandwich, four fries, and four grape sodas.\\
'''Cashier:''' I can't understand a word you say.\\
'''Doug:''' Huh?\\
'''Skeeter:''' Hey, man, let me take care of it. The new kid wants three moo cows, one no cucs, one no stinkers, one wet one, four cubers, and four from the vine. Do you want anything else?\\
'''Doug:''' How do you order a salad from the salad bar?\\
'''Skeeter:''' One salad from the salad bar!
* Just like the aforementioned movie, ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewSchool'' contains surprisingly little of this, but when it does it's extremely funny. Kuzco even throws Mata, the lunch lady, into the dungeon (due to his made up school rules) because she spoke hash lingo not even she herself understood.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Many drinks are ordered "on the rocks", which can refer to ice [[http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/kitchen/ba37/ or actual rocks.]] A lot of people object to diluting high quality drinks but need a cooling system.
* See also the OtherWiki, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diner_lingo here]]. Usually not quite as esoteric as what shows up in fiction (particularly comedy), but these gags have to start somewhere.
* The Canadian comedy group Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie was named after one of these. It was the slang for a triple hamburger to go at the restaurant where they first met.
* In-N-Out Burger has a "secret menu", items not normally listed which can be ordered if you know the right lingo, for example, "Protein Style" means a burger wrapped in lettuce rather than on a bun. A full list can be found [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-N-Out_Burger_products here]].
** "Animal style" means "with chopped onions" - Like most of these we don't really know the origin.
* There is a reason this is associated with roadside diners; unlike places in towns or cities where the staff turnover would be relatively high, diners located on long interstates would tend to keep the same staff for many years. After a decade of operating a place, every possible order can be an in-joke that the entire staff would be privy to.
* Israel has ‘Ovad’s Diner (commonly known as ‘‘Ovad’s Sabikh’) in Giv‘atayim, which is famous for its unique lingo. The Hebrew version of TheOtherWiki used to feature a list of the terms used there.
* In addition to its regular divergences from traditional caffeine drinking thought Starbucks has a complex enough lingo to actual hinder both their baristas trying to work outside the chain and outside baristas dealing with the lingo at non-Starbucks coffee shops.
[[/folder]]

----
''"Adam and Eve on a raft and sink 'em!"''
----