gremlin

Everyday

1. An imaginary, mischievous little creature blamed for things going wrong with machines. tree →
2. (informal) An unknown small fault that makes a machine or computer break down: there's a gremlin in the system. tree →

In the lessons

In stories and films (like «Gremlins») gremlins are naughty creatures. In everyday life adults joke that «gremlins» broke the printer or the Wi-Fi. The idea started with pilots in the Royal Air Force in the 1920s–1940s, blaming plane faults on gremlins. Phrases: a gremlin in the works, technical gremlins.

Examples

• Dad blamed the gremlins when the computer crashed. tree →
• There's a gremlin in the printer again. tree →
• In the story, a green gremlin hid inside the plane. tree →
• Technical gremlins delayed the school play's lights. tree →
• Pilots used to joke that gremlins chewed the wires. tree →
• The engineers hunted the gremlin for hours. tree →

Note

Countable: a gremlin, gremlins. Gremlins are not real; «a gremlin» in machines is a way of saying «an unknown fault». Not the same as goblins, though both are small mischievous creatures in stories.