Talk:on the blink
I don't think so....The term seems pretty much passé in the US. My wife and I both remember our parents using the term when we were kids, and we're 60 now. Must date back at least to WWII, maybe earlier?
I think its commonly used in Bristol at least when the show Being Human[1] was filmed. Which was 2009-2010. So I think its still commonly used in modern day Britain
Etymology is problematic, as the expression goes back to ~1902 (googling...) which predates devices which blink to indicate a problem. Early incandescent light bulbs failed by simply burning out, not blinking, and no electronics yet existed to generate blinks. It is possible it refers to a flickering lamp, ie a failing gas lamp or candle, but that is sheer speculation. It may also be a reference to electric arc lamps, which were more common at the turn of the 20th century than incandescent bulbs (used as street lamps and other non-domestic applications), and wouldn't simply burn out, but did they have a blinking failure mode? It is a possibility. Regardless, the etymology as written seems to be an anachronism, and objections to exactly this sort of etymology for the reasons I've summarized can be found at other sites on the net.