依地语

　　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。