on the fritz and friz--two spellings, and two pronunciations

[Stephen Goranson]

Previously I reported an example of the idiomatic phrase "on the friz" (note the spelling, with the same meaning as "on the fritz") in which "friz" rhymes with "wits." Here are two cases in which "on the friz," with the same meaning, rhymes with "is." (Both via Google Books.)


1911 March 18, Saturday Evening Post v.183. iss. 3 p. 26

...

Take a swift look at my scenery--

Ain't I the grandest there is

Me - who once hashed in a beanery--

Putting the swells on the friz! ....


1913

Terence you're great! you're a whiz!

You're just the grandest there is

Talkin' or dancin' you're simply entrancin' ;

 you've put all the rest on the friz!


So, in addition, for this phrase, to two spellings (fritz and friz--a fact not noted for this phrase, unless I missed it, in the dictionaries, OED June 2014 or HDAS or...), there were in circulation two pronunciations. (Association with frozen continues to, at a minimum, in my view, comport with the evidence.)


In a newspaper column Merrian-Webster indicated that their earliest known use on file was the 1902 poem use "Would Santa Claus be on the fritz / if we never had snow?"--but I still do not know the publication citation (I enquired to M-W today). Santa being on the fritz (frozen?) via lack of freezing?


Stephen Goranson

http://people.duke.edu/~goranson/


GB:


http://books.google.com/books?id=FlowAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA9-PA26&dq=%22on+the+friz%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=5WP3U7OcMaed8gHv9oDADg&ved=0CCAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22on%20the%20friz%22&f=false

[http://books.google.com/books?id=FlowAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&img=1&zoom=1&edge=curl&imgtk=AFLRE73tbMDLWGYkzU_eUfBSv9Uj3UTTiC4BiY4fo6wIfp9pQ9lZbQ0u3SxKSkpprfLD_Euvt8MpoNfpepKKmlZ0-g8YFLuAAnuVTGqjYur69nNCgviPBA8]<http://books.google.com/books?id=FlowAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA9-PA26&dq=%22on+the+friz%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=5WP3U7OcMaed8gHv9oDADg&ved=0CCAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22on%20the%20friz%22&f=false>

The Saturday Evening Post - Google Books
Read more...<http://books.google.com/books?id=FlowAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA9-PA26&dq=%22on+the+friz%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=5WP3U7OcMaed8gHv9oDADg&ved=0CCAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22on%20the%20friz%22&f=false>





http://books.google.com/books?id=yt4QAAAAYAAJ&pg=PT117&dq=%22on+the+friz%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=5WP3U7OcMaed8gHv9oDADg&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22on%20the%20friz%22&f=false

[http://books.google.com/books?id=yt4QAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&img=1&zoom=1&edge=curl&imgtk=AFLRE713kPanun0E25iEVEfaVusRmI9Wed6GQ143gD3s1hwhx6_t8GjHO_QFkDwQqm-TukKWykyEG9CzaSHoM3KVXDPFZpKboGa4JmL9vnhqvI1HSR8QhP0]<http://books.google.com/books?id=yt4QAAAAYAAJ&pg=PT117&dq=%22on+the+friz%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=5WP3U7OcMaed8gHv9oDADg&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22on%20the%20friz%22&f=false>

Sonnets of a Suffragette - Berton Braley - Google Books
Read more...<http://books.google.com/books?id=yt4QAAAAYAAJ&pg=PT117&dq=%22on+the+friz%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=5WP3U7OcMaed8gHv9oDADg&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22on%20the%20friz%22&f=false>



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