When you see an “Out of Order” sign posted, you know that something doesn’t work. It’s broken. It could be that it simply needs a new part or component, and supplying it puts things back into working order. It could be that it needs to be filled with something—fuel or lubricant for an engine or product for a vending machine—and supplying that which is lacking puts it back into working order. In this way, out of order indicates a static and inactive thing. It’s broken, so it just sits there, until someone does something to fix it.
Rarely, however, do we think that an out-of-order sign indicates not only that the thing is not working but also that it is working against and contrary to how it should. We don’t think that the out-of-order vending machine will give us poison instead a healthful snack. We don’t think the engine is out of order in the sense that it is not only not doing it what is should be doing but that it is doing what it shouldn’t be doing in the opposite.