You may not have ever heard of Yiddish, but it’s a Germanic language that’s especially common among Jewish people with Eastern European roots. Today it’s mostly spoken in Israel, Eastern Europe and some parts of the United States where Jewish families settled.

　　你可能没听说过依地语，但它是一种日耳曼语言，在源起东欧的犹太人中特别常见。如今多在以色列、东欧和美国部分犹太家庭定居的地区使用。

　　Because of historical immigration, some Yiddish words may be more common in American English than British English. Also, since it is a Germanic language, many Yiddish words are similar or even the same as German words.

　　由于历史迁移，相对于英式英语，一些依地语词汇可能在美式英语中更为常见。而且，因为它是一种日耳曼语言，许多依地语词汇和德语词汇相似，甚至相同。

　　1. Glitch

　　小故障，小毛病

　　A glitch describes a small problem, but usually it’s a problem that doesn’t make it impossible to finish something.

　　小故障表示小问题，但通常是那种影响整个事情进展的问题。

　　例句:

　　I planned to go downtown to meet with Betty, but I ran into a glitch: The bus wasn’t running because it was a holiday. So I just took a taxi instead.

　　我计划去市中心和贝蒂会面，但是我遇到了一个小问题：公交车因为假期停运了，所以我只好乘坐出租车。

　　2. Klutz

　　木头人，不灵巧的人

　　A klutz is a person who is very uncoordinated or clumsy. In other words, klutzes often have accidents and break things.

　　笨手笨脚的人是指肢体非常不协调或笨拙的人。换言之，他们经常闯祸，打坏东西。

　　例句:

　　My cousin Charlotte is a real klutz. Every time she goes into a souvenir shop, she always seems to break two or three things, and then she has to pay for them!

　　我的堂姐夏洛特真是笨手笨脚的。每次她去纪念品商店，总会打碎两三样东西，然后不得不赔偿!

　　3. Spiel

　　流利夸张地演说

　　In Yiddish (and German), this word can mean “play,” but in English it’s used to describe a quick speech or story which has usually been said/told many times. Often the spiel tries to convince you of something.

　　在依地语(和德语)中，这个单词可以表示演奏，但是在英语中它用来描述一个被讲述过许多次的快速演讲或故事。通常这个演讲是为了努力说服你某件事情。

　　例句:

　　My uncle Thomas believes a lot of conspiracy theories. When we ate Thanksgiving dinner, he did his whole spiel about how the government is controlled by lizard people!

　　我的叔叔汤玛斯非常迷信。当我们享用感恩节大餐时，他整个过程都在讲述政府是如何被恶魔操控的!

　　4. Schmooze

　　闲谈，闲聊

　　This is a verb that means to talk with someone in a very friendly way, often to gain some benefit for yourself.

　　这是个动词，表示和某人非常友好地交谈，通常是为了给自己争取某些福利。

　　例句:

　　At the meeting, the professors were schmoozing with the president of the club. They want his club to donate money to the university.

　　在会议上，教授们和俱乐部的主席闲聊，他们希望俱乐部能给学校捐些钱。

　　西班牙语

　　Like French, Spanish is another Latin-based language that has influenced English. A lot of this Spanish influence is especially noticeable in American English, so many of these words could be less common in British English.

　　和法语一样，西班牙语是另一种以拉丁语为基础的语言，对英语产生了影响。西班牙语的影响在美式英语中尤为显著，所以有许多词在英式英语中不很常见。

　　1. Guerrilla

　　游击队员

　　In Spanish, this word literally means “little war.” In both Spanish and English it can be used to describe an unofficial group of people fighting the government. In English, it’s most commonly used as an adjective, in phrases like “guerrilla warfare” or “guerrilla marketing.”

　　在西班牙语中，这个单词字面上表示小型战役。在西班牙和英语中它都可以用来描述一群和政府抗战的非正式组织人员。在英语中，它最常被用来做形容词，用在短语中，如游击战、游击营销。

　　Note that in Spanish, the “ll” sound is different than in English. As a result, in English this word sounds basically the same as “gorilla,” the animal.

　　注意在西班牙语种，“ll”的发音和英语中不同。所以，英语中的发音听起来基本上和gorilla(猩猩)这个动物的读音很像。

　　例句:

　　The guerrilla fighters took control of the capital of the country, which gave them control of the government.

　　游击队员控制了这个国家的首都，从而操控了政府。

　　2. Macho

　　男子汉，男子气概

　　This word describes a person who is very strong or masculine. It can also be used to describe a person who is arrogant about his manhood. It’s also been used in the name of a professional wrestler and a popular disco song from the 1970s.

　　这个单词描述一个非常健壮或阳刚气的人，也可以用来描述一个对自己的男子气质感到傲慢的人。它也被用在一个专业摔跤手的名字里，和一首二十世纪七十年代流行的迪斯科歌曲中。

　　例句:

　　Peter is a real macho guy, but that’s annoying sometimes. He says that “real men don’t cry,” but I think he’s wrong.

　　皮特真是一个非常有男子气概的人，但有时也让人恼火。他说“真正的男人不流眼泪”。但我认为他是错的。

　　3. Patio

　　天井，庭院

　　In English, “patio” generally describes an area outside a house which often has a table and chairs, but no roof.

　　英语中，庭院通常描述房子外面的区域，那儿经常会有一张桌子和一些椅子，但是没有屋顶。

　　例句:

　　It was very hot today, so we decided to go out to the patio to drink a cold glass of lemonade. There are some trees there, too, so the sun wasn’t as bad.

　　今天很热，所以我们决定出去到庭院里喝杯冷的柠檬饮料。那里也有一些树，所以太阳没那么毒辣。

　　4. Plaza

　　露天广场

　　A plaza describes a public open area in a city, which can sometimes be called a “square.”

　　露天广场描述城市里一个露天的公共区域，有时候会被称为广场。

　　“Plaza” is also used in the names of many shopping malls, corporate building areas or other large open areas. If you’re a native Spanish speaker, notice that the pronunciation in English has a vibrated “z” sound, not a soft “s.”

　　plaza也被用在许多购物商场、公司办公楼或其他大型露天场所的名字里。如果你的母语是西班牙语，注意英语中的发音里有一个浊辅音z，而不是一个清辅音s。

　　例句:

　　Victoria needed to buy some Christmas presents for her friends, so she went downtown to the new shopping plaza to check out some of the stores that were recently opened.

　　维多利亚需要给朋友买一些圣诞礼物，所以她去市中心新开的购物广场，逛一逛最近新开的商店。

　　5. Pi?ata

　　彩色礼品包

　　This is a happy word that describes a toy that is filled with candy. At parties, children take turns trying to break it open with a stick so the candy will fall out.

　　这是个快乐的单词，用来描述装满糖果的玩具。聚会上，孩子们会依次尝试用木棍打开它，这样糖果会掉出来。

　　例句:

　　We had a birthday party for our 3-year-old boy, but we thought he was probably too young for a pi?ata. We thought all the kids would get hit in the head with the stick.

　　我们为三岁的儿子举行了一次生日宴会，但是我们认为他可能年纪太小了，收不了彩色礼品包。我们认为所有的孩子会被木棍打到头。

　　6. Siesta

　　午睡，午休

　　A siesta is another name for “nap,” but it’s generally a nap that one takes in the middle of the day, especially after eating or while taking a break from work.

　　午睡是小睡的另一个说法，但它通常是中午的小睡，尤其是午饭过后或者是工作间隙的休息。

　　People often take siestas in hot countries because the middle of the day is when the heat is most intense. So it’s a good time to stay inside and sleep!

　　天气热的国家，人们经常在午睡，因为中午是最热的时候。所以很适合待在屋内睡觉。

　　例句:

　　Wow, since I ate that big plate of spaghetti, now I’m feeling super tired. I think I’ll take a quick siesta before I get back to work.

　　哇，由于我吃了一大盘意大利面，现在我感到非常疲累。我认为在回去工作前要先睡个午觉。