Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 8/7/84; site ucbvax.ARPA Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!ucbvax!wildbill From: wildbill@ucbvax.ARPA (William J. Laubenheimer) Newsgroups: net.misc,net.nlang Subject: Re: Where does "on the fritz" come from? Message-ID: <4267@ucbvax.ARPA> Date: Sun, 20-Jan-85 00:56:44 EST Article-I.D.: ucbvax.4267 Posted: Sun Jan 20 00:56:44 1985 Date-Received: Mon, 21-Jan-85 01:43:39 EST References: <130@heurikon.UUCP> <971@amdahl.UUCP> Reply-To: wildbill@ucbvax.UUCP (William J. Laubenheimer) Organization: University of California at Berkeley Lines: 19 Xref: watmath net.misc:7317 net.nlang:2443 Summary: >> Does anyone know the origin of the phrase: >> "It's on the fritz"? > >I couldn't find where it came from, but the first usage I >found was 1928: "That glycerine was on the fritz..." (American >Mercury, Aug, 487/2.). >Gordon A. Moffett ...!{ihnp4,hplabs,sun}!amdahl!gam The way I've heard the phrase explained, the Katzenjammer Kids may be involved. \\The Katzxenjammer Kids// was a newspaper comic strip which achieved its greatest popularity in the early part of the century. The Kids were general all-around hell-raisers who greatly enjoyed practical jokes. I believe that one of them was named Fritz. This could easily lead to the notion of something malfunctioning because Fritz had gotten at it, thus, "on the Fritz". Bill Laubenheimer ----------------------------------------UC-Berkeley Computer Science ...Killjoy went that-a-way---> ucbvax!wildbill