Meaning:

“宕,” which has the meaning of “suspension,” is the transliteration of the English word “down,” and “机” is short for “计算机” (jìsuànjī), which means “computer.” This term is basically used when a computer crashes, and you can often fix it by restarting the computer. It’s also used when a program or mobile app stops responding suddenly or, metaphorically, when a person is acting foolishly or fails to perform their normal job.

Example:

A: 你怎么在家长群里抢红包？那是大家交的孩子们的秋

游费用。

Nǐ zěnme zài jiāzhǎng qún lǐ qiǎnghóngbāo？Nà shì dàjiā jiāo de háizimen de qiūyóu fèiyòng。

Why did you grab the red envelopes in the WeChat group of parents? The money is a fee to be collected for the kids’ fall outing.

B: 哎呀，我脑子宕机了，以为是我的大学同学群。

Aiya，wǒ nǎozi dàngjī le，yǐwéi shì wǒde dàxué tóngxué qún。

Oops, I was out to lunch. I thought it was the WeChat group of my college classmates.