Hi this is Tutor Nick P and this is Prepositional Phrase number six. The
prepositional phrase today is " on the fritz. " Okay. Let's take a look at the note
here. If an electrical or mechanical appliance is on the fritz, it is out of
order, malfunctioning, or not working correctly.
So we often say that some machine might be on the fritz. That's just not working
for some reason. All right. Let's continue. Some people believe this phrase comes
from a comic-strip. It's a very old comic strip called "The Katzenjammer Kids. " Okay.
The comic strip centered around two brothers and one of them was "Hans and
Fritz. " Well it's where the fritz comes from and was syndicated in hundreds of
newspapers around the world. Meaning you know, it was ... It appeared in hundreds of
newspapers around the world in the early 1900s.
Okay. The two brothers were always messing things up and getting into
trouble. Okay. Fritz was the more serious troublemaker.
Yes troublemaker. This was popular in the early 1900s and many gadgets often had
trouble. So this is maybe why this was part of the topic of this comic strip as
well. In a number of the strips Fritz created some new inventions and they
usually stopped working as soon as they were touched. So that's the idea of why
some ... it might be on the fritz. Like Fritz made it. So well now you touch it well
it's on the fritz. Once Fritz touches it. It stops working. So I guess that's the
idea that they're trying to say. Let's continue. The Hearst corporation owned a
number of newspapers and it claims that William Randolph Hearst .. okay loved the
comic strip and used this term often. So maybe he helped to popularize this term.
Now if you do look in the dictionary some dictionaries say that they don't
really know the origin of it. And there is another idea out there that some
people think that because Fritz is a German name
this, this phrase seemed to come into you know, into being or into use in the early
1900s. Even though, I think it was World War
One was probably you know, in the teens, they think that maybe because the
Germans were unpopular , maybe people did as a way to mock the Germans. It's on the
fritz. But to be honest I like this story better . It sounds more logical too. All right.
Anyway let's look we have a couple of examples here. Example number one. The
dishwasher is on the fritz again. It's a typical way you might hear it. Or
number two. The air conditioner is on the fritz. I think we need a new one. Okay. It
sounds good. I hope you got it. I hope it was clear.
Thank you for your time. Bye-bye.