The former FBI director James Comey has found himself facing an investigation after posting an image to Instagram of sea shells on the beach spelling out “86 47”.
According to the dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster, “86” means “to throw out” or “get rid of”, while 47 is commonly used to refer to President Trump, given he is the 47th president.
While the symbol was a well-known sign of resistance among some of those opposed to Trump, it has landed Comey in hot water. After taking down the post, he said he photographed the shells on the beach, “which I assumed were a political message”, adding: “I didn’t realise some folks associate those numbers with violence.”
Merriam-Webster dates the term “86” to the 1930s and says
