Why do people call waiters or waitresses "servers"?

[hollygolightly]

Originally Posted by piperspal

IMO, for the most part, it's just a matter of personal preference and/or the term dictated by management. I do know that around the early 1990's, many
restaurants were re-vamping their in-house communication. My husband's restaurant was getting rid of the old cash registers and written order pads
in favor of computerized systems.

(Drove my husband nuts at first!) Anyway, the new system came already set up to accept up to 25 staff members - each assigned a number.
"Server 1, Server 2" and so on. This system lumped everyone together, ie: a bartender would still have a server #, as would a hostess
or a runner (take-out guy!)

Once we all got the hang of it, it was well worth the change. Lots of restaurant pals in the business were doing the same thing; so I suspect
that's where a lot of the term "server" started getting used.

This sounds about right! One of my best friends is a career server, and that is the terminology he has used since the mid '90s. It is a common term to use within the entire industry. I don't think anybody uses "waiter" or "waitress" anymore.

[Richmonder27]

Originally Posted by Tek_Freek

Around here, as we talk about the good old days when people spoke English, the term y'all never enters into the conversation. Y'all is not, and never has been, proper English.

Yes it is. It sure beats "you guys" when talking to females.

[happynoodleboycey]

Originally Posted by Richmonder27

Why do people call waiters or waitresses "servers"?

Because they serve. I don't use the term myself but it's not rocket science.