Iāve heard people say ātook a fritzā instead of crap. Fritz sounds less offensive. I usually hear it used when people are talking about their dog.
Whatās the slang origin?
Are you sure that this is accurate? I can WAG as to the etymology of such a thing (German scatological pornography is a common meme) but in trying to look up the slang Iām not really finding anything about its existence, let alone origin. āFritzā is an old term for āGerman personā going back many decades, and is often considered derogatory, but I havenāt seen it used as slang for defecation.
My naive guess would be that it sounds vaguely like āshitā. Iāve never heard it, though.
Also used to mean something going haywire. Like my icemaker is on the fritz, but the fridge is fine.
In this case I think it simply rhymes with shits. Never heard it used in this manner, but why not.
Oh I still use it that way, though I never made the connection between the term and the German given name. I hope itās not a slur, I had never thought of that. Hmm.
Thatās common with English Cockney, where a rhyme is substituted for the original word or phrase, so that would make sense. But again I donāt think itās common usage so the OPās question is somewhat invalid. (At least as far as I can tell, I might be wrong.)
I didnāt realize it sort of rhymes with shits. I guess the guy on youtube was trying to say his dog, did his business, more nicely.
I assume āfritzā is used because it sounds like an electrical problem (arcing, for example).
It has to be from WWII just like Tojo was used. There are various patriotic posters that use Fritz to indicate the German enemy.
Skip to 4:34 he says you gonna push out a fritz. It may just be slang he uses.
While this doesnāt appear to be an in-depth etymological evaluation, this article does talk about the uncertainty of the origin of using āfritzā as a synonym for āmalfunctionā:
For what itās worth, Wiktionary suggests that it could be related to the German given name or onomatopoeia as you propose.
So your source for it being slang is that a guy said it one time on YouTube. That tracks.
Given its similarity to āon the blinkā, Iāll believe the latter.
I grew up in the same area of Massachusetts. Steve lives and works around Dartmouth, MA. I really enjoy this guyās accent and slang because it reminds me of my childhood.
Steve also says let err rip potato chip when his dog is pooping. Heās a colorful guy. I watch his plumbing channel regularly.
The first post you made in opening this thread implied youād heard this from more than one person rather than one guy once, in a YouTube video.
Iāve heard Steve use it pretty often when his dog takes a dump. The dog rides in his work van and sometimes he letās it out for a potty break.
Fritz sparked a memory for me. I canāt say for sure if I heard it before. I may have since I spent my early childhood near where Steve lives.
Have you ever heard anyone other than that one guy use āfritzā in this way? Or, does āI canāt say for sure if I heard it beforeā answer that question?
I canāt remember any other person using fritz. It sounded familiar and may be a regional expression.
In the OP you clearly stated that youāve heard āpeopleā (plural) say this, and qualified it with a āusuallyā seemingly to indicate multiple experiences of this being used as some sort of common slang. Thatās different than one guy in an internet video using his own idiosyncratic language. Lots of people make up their own euphemisms. Why not ask the question, then, whether this is a widespread euphemism rather than assume and act like it is?
I should have phrased the question more carefully.
It sounds so familiar and natural an expression. That may just be my memories from childhood.
Not quite. The point about rhyming slang is that it uses a phrase, of which you donāt say the word that rhymes. You may sometimes hear āThatās a load of old ponyā[understood to include āand trapā= guess what]. But I donāt think thatās used to refer to the actual bodily function.