18 Ways to say something is BROKEN in English (Messed up, screwed up, on the fritz, etc)

Welcome to this lesson on how to talk about things that are broken in English. This specifically refers to machines electronics things like printers, computers, phones, photo copiers, televisions, radios, etc. Machines and electronics there are other contexts where you can use some of today's vocabulary but I'm specifically going to talk about them in the context of electronics and machines that are giving you problems. We have three levels here we have:

1. How to say something not working properly 

It's Messed up

We have some slang terminology here "it's messed up". For example, "The printer is messed up". 

It's screwed up

You can also say if it's not working properly by saying "it's screwed up". You can say "the computer is screwed up" or "the mouse is screwed up", "the keyboard is all screwed up" like the keys are putting in the wrong letters when I type. 

It's on the fritz

This one not as common today but you can still hear it sometimes in films and TV shows "it's on the fritz" this means that it's not working properly like it hasn't been working properly for a while something is inside the machine that's causing it be messed up or screwed up or on the fritz. 

It's having issues/problems

This is very common, it's having issues. It's having problems you can say I'm having problems with my phone, I'm having issues with my keyboard.

It's acting up 

If something is acting up it's not working properly. You can also use this to talk about people and kids specifically like "he's acting up". You can also say unexpectedly my phone is acting up, my computer is acting up, the printer is acting up, the photocopier is acting up, the Wi-Fi is acting up. It's that's not working properly sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. 

It's being temperamental or finicky

It's being temperamental or finicky. Let's start with temperamental. Do you see the word temper? So imagine, your phone has a personality. It can be angry or happy. When it's working, it's happy but sometimes it doesn't want to load your browser or it doesn't want to load your apps properly or it freezes, we can say it has a temper. You can use this for people as well and it's being finicky like there are little details that are annoying you like you're trying to scroll on your phone but sometimes it Scrolls sometimes it doesn't scroll like it's being really weird with little details it's being finicky.

It's being buggy

A bug is like a virus basically inside a computer. If you say something is buggy it means that something is wrong inside that machine or something is wrong inside that program, video games. It can also be buggy like the controls. Like in level 3 when I get near the river and I just pushed the controller this way the character doesn't jump in, it goes another way instead 

It's defective

Defective basically you get something and it's already not working properly so it is you can also say "a lemon". If you get a lemon it's something that you buy doesn't work properly the moment you open the box. A car is the most common context where you can say lemon.  A lemon is something that is defective or it's not working properly. 

2. How  to say something that needs to be replaced soon

It' on its last legs

Think of your machines having energy and they're running well. Just like you if you run for a long time your legs get weaker just like a machine you can say "my car is on its last legs". Cars have wheels but you can use the metaphor that the car is on its last legs or it's dying. 

 It's on life support

If it's like your machine is in a hospital and there are other machines trying to keep it alive like you can tell "okay it works but not super well just make sure you don't click this button because if you click this button everything gets messed up" when it's on life support, it needs to be replaced soon.

It's in disrepair

It's disorganized pieces of it aren't functioning properly.  Imagine, pieces of the machine inside it being everywhere out of order not working properly. 

3. How to say something is dead

Finally we have we went from it's dying to its dead. 

It's busted

For example: "my phone is busted. Can you fix my phone?,"My keyboard is busted, I need a new keyboard". 

It's toasted

So think of bread in a toaster it comes up and it's burned. Think of that your machine almost like being burned like toast. 

It's fried

Imagine putting your phone in the oven or in a microwave and turning that on and frying your phone or keyboard or other electronic device. Imagine like smoke coming from it.

It's out of order

This is not as bad like you think. Think of a vending machine. A vending machine is a machine where you can get snacks. You can buy drinks or crackers or chips if you put money in the machine and the chips or the drinks come out but often you see the sign "out of order". This means the machine is not working we need to get a mechanic to come and replace something in the machine or fix the machine in some way. This also works for toilets. Sometimes you go to a public bathroom and you'll see the sign "out of order" it is not working properly it is dead right now it will be fixed later but for now it's gone.

It's kaput 

Kaput is a German or Yiddish word. Maybe you have it in your own language  kaput means "dead" or "gone" or "done".

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