{"id":496,"date":"2022-01-04T18:14:27","date_gmt":"2022-01-04T18:14:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/?p=496"},"modified":"2022-01-04T18:14:27","modified_gmt":"2022-01-04T18:14:27","slug":"bussing-tables-meaning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/bussing-tables-meaning\/","title":{"rendered":"Bussing Tables - Meaning, Origin and Usage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Did your dad just tell you to get a job bussing tables<\/em> to pay your way through college? What is he talking about? Does he mean you need to go to the bus stop?<\/p>\n

This post unpacks everything you need to know about the meaning and origin of this idiomatic expression.<\/p>\n

Bussing Tables Meaning<\/h2>\n

If you\u2019re \u201cbussing tables<\/em>,\u201d it means that you\u2019re either waiting tables or clearing and setting tables at a restaurant. The term can also be inclusive of all front-of-house restaurant duties involving serving customers.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Typically, the job would initially refer more to the cleaning and resetting of the table. However, as restaurants tightened salary bills, bussing would become the responsibility of waitrons, making the \u201cbusboy<\/em>\u201d position irrelevant.<\/p>\n

As more women entered the workforce, the use of \u201cbusboy<\/em>\u201d faded away, moving to the term waiter or waitress. This term was also considered sexist, evolving into the genderless form of \u201cwaitron<\/em>.\u201d However, \u201cbussing tables<\/em>\u201d is still a common term in the restaurant industry today, and you probably hear people use it all the time in movies and conversations.<\/p>\n

Bussing Tables Example Usage<\/h2>\n

\u201cOne of the best jobs I had, when I was young, was bussing tables<\/em>; it\u2019s a great way to make a cash income.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t seen Rob in a while since he got that job bussing tables<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBussing tables<\/em> can be hard on your feet, so make sure you wear comfortable shoes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nothing wrong with bussing tables<\/em> part-time during college; you\u2019ll end up with less student loan debt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bussing Tables Origin<\/h2>\n

\u201cBussing tables<\/em>\u201d first appeared in print media as early as 1945. However, the term \u201cbusboy<\/em>\u201d would appear some 40-years before bussing tables, appearing in print in 1902. \u201cBussing tables\u201d originates from the use of the word \u201cbusboy<\/em>\u201d describing their duties in the hotel or restaurant.<\/p>\n

It might surprise you to learn that the term \u201cbusboy<\/em>\u201d originates from \u201comnibus boy<\/em>.\u201d Since waitrons must perform several tasks on duty, such as setting and clearing tables and serving the customers food and beverages, they earned the term \u201comibus<\/em>\u201d to describe the range of skills and functions.<\/p>\n

The word \u201comnibus\u201d originates from the Latin \u201cOmi<\/em>,\u201d referring to \u201call<\/em>.\u201d So, a busboy is an employee at a restaurant or hotel with a host of responsibilities in their job description.<\/p>\n

However, with the rise of women in the workforce, the term \u201cbusbo<\/em>y\u201d started to fade away in the 80s and 90s. Instead, people would use the term \u201cwaitron<\/em>s\u201d to describe waiters and waitresses without bringing a sexist overtone to the word.<\/p>\n

While \u201cbusboy<\/em>\u201d faded away over the last two or three decades, people still use the term \u201cbussing tables<\/em>\u201d to refer to the art of waiting on other people in restaurants. Some people may use the word to describe the clearing or tables and not the serving of food or drinks.<\/p>\n