Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Unsolved Mystery of the Day

Here's something to think about.

Apparently, nobody knows* where the phrase "on the fritz" originated.

Intriguing, eh?

* In case anybody is wondering, I DID do more than just check the Wictionary. I do have the intellectual honesty and fortitude at least to Google the question.

4 comments:

Jack said...

Conjecture:

"On the blink" (Cockney construction arising from introduction of electrical devices with blinking indicator lamps)
to
"on the blitz" (a 1940s reference to the bombings)
corrupted/modified to
"on the Fritz" (Not 100% sure on the use of "Fritz" to refer to Germans, but it wouldn't shock me.)

The second step isn't strictly necessary, but seems plausible.

Emily said...

Well, you're ahead of the rest of the internet with that second step. Hmmm.

kenji said...

Do you know, I first heard about Google from you?

Emily said...

Wow, really? For some reason, that makes me feel technologically savvy.