As of a few weeks ago, I am a service
assistant at a restaurant. Basically, that means I bus tables and
help carry food out to guests. I am curious to know where the word
busing came from and if it has any relationship to bus as a vehicle.
Busing means clearing tables of dirty
plates, leftover food, etc. Originally the word for busboy was
omnibus, a Latin word meaning “for all.” This term may have
applied to people who cleared tables because they bussed all the
tables. At the time, omnibus also referred to a horse-drawn carriage
predecessor to the motor bus.
The first usage of bus as clearing
tables in a restaurant dates back to 1913. It is also possible that
the word referred to a four-wheeled cart used to carry dishes.
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