Why Do People Keep Posting This 9-Digit "Secret Code" on Twitter?

If you follow certain people on Twitter, there’s a chance you may have come across a rather cryptic string of numbers that people seem to magically understand. It’s 864511320. By the way that people react to posts containing these numbers, you can tell it means something, and that a bunch of people obviously know exactly what it is.

Before you grab the nearest calculator and start trying to remember your high school math classes, we’ll let you in on the secret. What does “864511320” mean? It’s actually pretty simple.

The nine-digit “secret code” has recently started popping up all over social media but seems to be especially popular on Twitter. It has appeared on bumper stickers, meme images, and simply in text form. As for what it means, well, there are three basic parts:

“86” — If you’ve ever worked in the food-service industry, you’ll recognize this number code instantly (you might also start having flashbacks to the last time you had to tell a customer you were out of something they wanted). “86” means to cancel or nix something. In restaurants, it’s used to say they have run out of a certain item, but in general parlance, it basically means “get rid of.”

“45” — There’s a good chance you already know this part. “45” is used to refer to Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States. You can see where we’re going with this, right? 

“11320” — The last part of the secret code is five digits long. Any ideas? What if we told you that it’s a date. 11-3-20. November 3, 2020. If that date rings a bell, it’s because (drumroll, please), it’s Election Day! 

So, let’s put it all together: 86 (get rid of) 45 (Trump) 11320 (on Election Day). 864511320! Congrats, you’ve figured it out!

There isn’t necessarily a reason the “secret code” needs to exist, but some people see it as a fun nod between like-minded individuals. Other people think it’s a brilliantly subtle way to express your political opinion — and because some people who don’t agree with that opinion might not understand exactly what it’s saying right off the bat. Regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum, you can’t deny the code is pretty clever (and would work regardless of who had been elected).

If you want your own “864511320” bumper sticker for your car, the internet has you covered. It looks like there are several designs to choose from on RedBubble — and they aren’t limited to bumper stickers, either. You could get a face mask and/or T-shirt, too! There’s even a shower curtain! We wouldn’t be surprised to start seeing even more “864511320”-branded items pop up for sale as we continue getting closer to Election Day

Anyway, now you finally know the meaning behind all of those cryptic tweets on your timeline. Now we just have to wait until 11/3/20 to see whether 45 really does get 86’d.