TL;DR answer is that it’s a sort of restaurant slang used for indirectness to avoid talking directly about the bill in a way that customers could understand — by using the “code”, it allows the sushi chefs/restaurant employees to convey the information among each other without revealing in a loud voice how much a certain customer has paid (which could seem intrusive or a breach of privacy).
Here is a page breaking down the system, explaining some of the origins of the terms, etc.
リャン for 2 probably comes from Chinese and is used in mahjong too.
We say ピン to refer to a comedian who perfoms on their own (kind of, sort of, but not really, like the stand-up style found in English comedy), as opposed to with a partner (コンビ) or two partners (トリオ). Not sure about its etymology though.
But don’t expect the average native speaker without the specific industry experience to understand any of this.
the general term is 隠語 or “hidden language”/jargon
for example in sushi restaurants talking about あにき (older brother) actually means slightly older fish that needs to get used up soon
or hotel staff referring to a cockroach in a room as Gさま instead of ゴキブリ so guests are none the wiser
it happens in english contexts, too. “code blue” in a hospital is “patient is having a heart attack” but is hidden in jargon so as to not panic other people hearing it
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TL;DR answer is that it’s a sort of restaurant slang used for indirectness to avoid talking directly about the bill in a way that customers could understand — by using the “code”, it allows the sushi chefs/restaurant employees to convey the information among each other without revealing in a loud voice how much a certain customer has paid (which could seem intrusive or a breach of privacy).
Here is a page breaking down the system, explaining some of the origins of the terms, etc.
[http://sushi.gourmet.coocan.jp/eng/sushi-number_e.htm](http://sushi.gourmet.coocan.jp/eng/sushi-number_e.htm)
I want to add:
リャン for 2 probably comes from Chinese and is used in mahjong too.
We say ピン to refer to a comedian who perfoms on their own (kind of, sort of, but not really, like the stand-up style found in English comedy), as opposed to with a partner (コンビ) or two partners (トリオ). Not sure about its etymology though.
But don’t expect the average native speaker without the specific industry experience to understand any of this.
the general term is 隠語 or “hidden language”/jargon
for example in sushi restaurants talking about あにき (older brother) actually means slightly older fish that needs to get used up soon
or hotel staff referring to a cockroach in a room as Gさま instead of ゴキブリ so guests are none the wiser
it happens in english contexts, too. “code blue” in a hospital is “patient is having a heart attack” but is hidden in jargon so as to not panic other people hearing it