字幕列表 影片播放
-
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.