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Kel Richards'
Ozwords

Kel Richards' OzwordsKel Richards' OzwordsKel Richards' Ozwords

The Ozword of the Day: "Fritz”

Garry writes: 'Just heard an American reporter say, “on the Fritz.” My reloes in South Australia called processed meat Fritz and we say a machine is “on the Fritz.” Where did it come from?' 

Well, the answer to that, Garry, is not short—because ‘fritz’ has multiple meanings. 

Let’s begin with the source. 

The earliest slang meaning for ‘fritz’ was a German soldier (recorded from 1883 and used in both World Wars)—because Fritz was once a common German name. 

Then there’s that odd meat. 

What’s the story behind that? 

Here in Australia the meat called ‘fritz’ was so called because its original name was German sausage. 

(In fact, it was a type of processed meat that had been introduced into Australia by German settlers, coming to the Barossa Valley in South Australia.) 

Over time it was given lots of other names around Australia, some of them inexplicable—such as: devon, polony, Strasburg, wheel meat, luncheon sausage and a dozen others. 

I list them all in my book about Australian regionalisms called Word Map. 

This process of renaming ‘fritz’ something else began with the outbreak of the First World War—because German sausage sounded unpatriotic, so its name was changed to ‘imperial sausage’ and then to ‘Windsor sausage’ and then all the rest! 

As for ‘fritz’ meaning broken—this appears to be American in origin recorded from 1908 when ‘to fritz out’ meant to go bung. 

So how was the word given this completely unrelated meaning? 

No one knows for sure. 

Even the great slang lexicographer Jonathan Green can’t explain why. 

My suggestion is that this first appeared at the beginning of the electrical age—with the earliest electric light bulbs for instance—and ‘fritz’ resembled the fizzing noise that anything electrical makes when it dies and goes out. 

Just a guess—but hey, sometimes even guesses are right!


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BOOKS:


*  My latest book is called Pray Like This. To look at prayer I do what I do in these Ozword columns: I go through the most famous prayer in the world (The Lord’s Prayer, also known as the Our Father) and unpack it word by word—each chapter being a short word-study on a key word in that prayer. There is a total of 21 words studies in all. To find out more, here’s a link to the publisher’s website (where you can buy a copy if you wish): Pray Like This – matthiasmedia.com.au 


* My book is Sherlock Holmes: 5-Minute Mysteries -- containing 50 new stories I have written about the great detective. You can find it on Amazon. Just go to Amazon and type in Sherlock Holmes: 5-Minute Mysteries in the search panel. Or use this link:  h  Amazon.com.au : Sherlock Holmes 5-Minute Mysteries Kel Richards 


* My book "Defending the Gospel" is now in a second, fully revised, edition. You can find it here:  Defending the Gospel – matthiasmedia.com.au 


* If you're looking for my recent book "Flash Jim" you'll find it here --  Flash Jim, The astonis

hing story of the convict fraudster who wrote Australia's first dictionary by Kel Richards | 9781460759769 | Booktopia 


* You can find all Kel's books currently in print here --  Booktopia Search Results for 'kel richards'. We sell books, hardback, paperback, audio, CDs.  

 

* And also here --   Amazon.com.au : Kel Richards 


* And you'll find more here --  Search: 4 results found for "Kel Richards" – matthiasmedia.com.au 


* Many of Kel's out of print books can be found at ABE Books --  Kel Richards - AbeBooks explaining words explain the term


BY THE WAY...


If you'd like to see my A-Z list of Aussie slang, you'll find it here in the Australian Geographic website -- A-Z list of Aussie slang. Here’s the link: The A-Z of Aussie slang - Australian Geographic


The liveliest part of this website is usually the Q and A page -- be sure to check it out from time to time.

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THE AUSTRALIAN LANGUAGE

Kel Richards has been reporting on the Australian language for more than 30 years, and is the author of ten books about words and language. He has been described in one newspaper article as "the wordsmith to the nation." Kel is a veteran Australian author, journalist and broadcaster. In a long and distinguished career he has hosted ABC radio's flagship daily current affairs show "AM" and his own talkback shows on commercial radio. For 12 years Kel wrote and presented the popular daily feature "Word Watch" on ABC NewsRadio. For several years Kel was a member of the Standing Committee on Spoken English (SCOSE) at the ABC. Kel presents the weekly "Words Matter" segment on Peta Credlin's program on Sky News, he writes the "Language" column for The Spectator Australia and the "Ozwords" and "Placenames" columns for Australian Geographic. Kel joins John Stanley on 2GB, 4BC, 2CC and the Nine Radio Network each week for "The Word Clinic."

Ozwords appears in every issue of AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHIC.

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