10 Slang Expressions Meaning Broken

I think these phones are on the blink!

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How’s your equipment working these days? I think a lot of electronic equipment these days is pretty reliable. But sometimes there are problems and things get broken. Well, you could simply say that your car or computer is broken. But wouldn’t you rather use a more colorful, English slang word or phrase in such situations? Sure you would! (I know, I answered for you…) Here are 10 slang words and phrases you can use when you want to say that something is broken:

My laptop is acting up ← When someone is acting, they are not being their usual self. So when your machine is acting up, it is not working as usual.
My laptop is busted ← Busted is just a slang term for broken.
My laptop conked out ← Conk is an old word meaning to break, so in slang we say that something conks out.
My laptop is dead ← You can say that your phone is dead (adjective) or that your phone died (verb).
My laptop is done for ← Done for is a old term meaning dead or in danger of dying.
My laptop is fried ← When you fry something, like an egg, it is certainly no longer alive.
My laptop is messed up ← Messed up is generally used to mean not organized or messy, but we use use it in slang to mean broken.
My laptop is on the blink ← In the old days, when an electric light would begin to fail, it would start blinking. So, on the blink means not working correctly.
My laptop is on the fritz ← I think fritz is the onomatopoeia sound of an electrical item shorting out.
My laptop is out of whack ← I’m not sure of the origin of this one, but it also means broken or not working properly

Try to start using some of these tired phrases in your everyday English conversation…You’ll sound more natural when you do!

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