■ noun (in phr. go (or be ) on the ~ ) N. Amer. informal (of a machine) stop working properly.
Origin
early 20th cent.: said to be with allusion to cheap German imports into the US before the First World War.
■ noun (in phr. go (or be ) on the ~ ) N. Amer. informal (of a machine) stop working properly.
Origin
early 20th cent.: said to be with allusion to cheap German imports into the US before the First World War.
Concise Oxford English vocab. Сжатый оксфордский словарь английского языка. 2004