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 #2 (permalink) Sat Jan 26, 2008 0:03 am Her oven is on the fritz? |
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TD
I've always thought that "on the fritz" meant that the thing had broken down, was performing poorly, etc.
"My car is on the fritz" = "My car isn't performing right"
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Prezbucky
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| #3 (permalink) Sat Jan 26, 2008 0:05 am Her oven is on the fritz? |
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"The woman's oven is on the fritz" = "The woman has problems with her genitalia/genital area"
OR
"Her oven isn't working properly" (the kind of oven that bakes things)
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Prezbucky
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| #4 (permalink) Sat Jan 26, 2008 15:37 pm Her oven is on the fritz? |
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| Torsten wrote: |
So I guess the expression 'her oven is on the fritz' means she is pregnant. If so, where does it stem from?
Thanks,
Torsten |
Hello Torsten
If you are interested in the origin of the phrase "on the fritz" I think this source might be of some use:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fritz
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
fritz
in on the fritz "inoperative," 1903, Amer.Eng. slang, of unknown origin. Earliest references suggest a theatrical origin.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper |
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 Klpno
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| #5 (permalink) Sat Jan 26, 2008 15:44 pm Her oven is on the fritz? |
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| prezbucky wrote: |
| "The woman's oven is on the fritz" = "The woman has problems with her genitalia/genital area" |
Have you actually heard this expression used this way, Tom? I mean, with that particular meaning?
(By the way, is that your dog in your new avatar?)
Torsten, as a stand-alone sentence, I definitely would not interpret "Her oven is on the fritz" to mean "She's pregnant." or even that she has some sort of medical problem. My automatic interpretation would be that her oven (literally the one in the kitchen) is not working properly or is broken.
The sentence "Her oven is on the fritz" could possibly have been a deliberate or accidental mixing of two standard idioms:
- be on the fritz (not be working/functioning properly)
- have a bun in the oven (be pregnant)
However, in my opinion, your sentence (as a mix of two separate and distinct idioms) is not a commonly heard or used one. You would have to have a specifically appropriate broader context to be able to arrive at the conclusion that the word "oven" has anything other than a completely literal meaning in your sentence.
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| #7 (permalink) Sat Jan 26, 2008 17:43 pm Her oven is on the fritz? |
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Hi everyone,
Thanks a lot for all your contributions -- I came across the phrase in a movie called "The perfect stranger" and in the given context it meant "She is having problems getting pregnant".
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| #8 (permalink) Sat Jan 26, 2008 23:04 pm Her oven is on the fritz? |
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Ah HA! Then 'oven' was in fact a reference to the idiom 'have a bun in the oven'.
Still, I wouldn't call that sentence a "commonly used" one. It would be more a case of word play, in my opinion.
Isn't it amazing what a huge role context can play in understanding language?  |
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Yankee
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| #9 (permalink) Sun Jan 27, 2008 0:00 am Her oven is on the fritz? |
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Amy, I've never heard anyone say "Her oven is on the fritz" -- I figured if someone were to say that, the meaning would be something like "there's something wrong with her oven"
if the reference was to her genitalia ("oven" is rare but not entirely unheard of), it would mean her "stuff" wasn't working properly.
And yeah, that's Molly. She's a sparkplug.
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Prezbucky
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| #10 (permalink) Sun Jan 27, 2008 4:11 am Her oven is on the fritz? |
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| prezbucky wrote: |
| And yeah, that's Molly. She's a sparkplug. |
What a cutie.  |
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