Fonzie touch

English

Etymology

From Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli in the 1974-1984 TV series Happy Days.

Noun

Fonzie touch

1. (informal) Hitting an electrical appliance to make it work. Any similar rough treatment that proves successful.
   • 2003, adobe.premiere.windows http://groups.google.com/g/5387fef4/t/.../d/9e5aa65ce7fdcf57?hl=en&ie...8

     Often when something doesn't work for me, I just restart the computer and try again. Often this jars something loose, akin to the ole Fonzie touch.

   • 2005, Jesse M. Torres, Peter Sideris, Surviving PC Disasters, Mishaps, and Blunders, page 53:

     We wish we had the Fonzie touch — give it a little kick and voila, it's working. Unfortunately, printers don't like to be kicked.

   • 2005, Rocket Jones (archive). http://rocketjones.mu.nu/archives/2005_06.php

     I have to do that to get the door of my pickup truck open sometimes. - Rookie astronaut Donald Pettit after he used his Fonzie touch to open a hatch on the International Space Station

   • 2006, http://www.motoringfile.com/2005/08/24/the_mini_window_motor_issue/

     I had the driver’s side window motor replaced about three weeks ago on my ‘03 MC. Last weekend, the passenger side started acting up, but I guess I don’t have the “Fonzie” touch — beating on the door panel didn’t do anything but hurt my hand.

   • 2007, Sporting News Magazine https://web.archive.org/web/20071112161716/http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=220608

     Usually, when things in the dashboard don't work, I just bang on it, and they start working again. This happened often with the speedometer. The Fonzie touch would not work for the radio.