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Mar 11, 1994 · Noting that the earliest citation of “on the fritz” in the Oxford English Dictionary is from 1903, word detectives William and Mary Morris guess that it all started with the comic strip The Katzenjammer Kids, which began around that time.
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The idiom “on the fritz” is a common expression in American English that describes something that is not working properly. The origins of this phrase are unclear, but it has been used since at least the early 1900s.
Jul 17, 2023 · The exact origin of the phrase “On the Fritz” is somewhat uncertain, but it is believed to have originated in the United States in the late 19th or early 20th century. There are two different etymologies for the expression. One identifies the term “Fritz” as an onomatopoetic word, mimicing the sparking sound of a faulty wire.
Wiktionary puts its origin date as 1902, and it’s meaning either as a reference to the German name Fritz, so it could be some sort of insult, or as an onomatopoeia for a fuse blowing. Another origin is the name of a troublesome kid in a comic strip that was popular at the time.
4 days ago · on the fritz. (of electrical or mechanical appliances, idiomatic, Northern US) Out of order; malfunctioning; broken . Synonyms: fritzed, (Australian) bung, (UK, Australia) on the blink, (offensive) spaz. I'd record it, but my tape deck is on the fritz again.
The phrase on the fritz dates to the beginning of the 20th century--a time, perhaps, when electric appliances were becoming more common (and consequently break down) in American homes. However, nobody knows the exact origin of the term.
Mar 18, 2018 · Though it's generally agreed that "on the fritz" means, more or less, "in an unsatisfactory or defective state or condition" (Oxford English Dictionary), there is no agreement on its etymology. Some currently associate "fritz" with a sound from a malfunctioning electric machine, but the early uses of the phrase did not apply to machines but to ...
