51吃瓜 of the Day
schmatte
noun
an old ragged garment; tattered article of clothing.
More about schmatte
Schmatte, 鈥渁n old ragged garment,鈥� is an Americanism adapted from Yiddish shmate, 鈥渞ag,鈥� from Polish szmata, of the same meaning. Though much of Yiddish vocabulary comes from German, it uses the Hebrew writing system as an alphabet and treats silent Hebrew consonants as vowels. This is how the letters aleph and ayin, which are silent in most varieties of modern Hebrew, make the 鈥渁h鈥� and 鈥渆h鈥� sounds in Yiddish shmate. Schmatte may also appear as shmatte in English; both spellings are equally valid, with the sch- closer to German spelling standards despite its Polish origin. Schmatte was first recorded in English in the late 1960s.
EXAMPLE OF SCHMATTE USED IN A SENTENCE
鈥淭ake that schmatte off,鈥� the grandmother scolded, 鈥渁nd put on a proper coat, or you鈥檒l catch a cold!鈥�
snye
noun
a side-channel, especially one that later rejoins the main stream.
More about snye
Snye, 鈥渁 side-channel,鈥� is probably adapted from Canadian French chenail, a variant of standard French chenal. Chenal comes from Latin 肠补苍腻濒颈蝉, 鈥渨aterpipe, conduit,鈥� which may derive from canna, 鈥渞eed, pipe.鈥� Canna, in turn, is a borrowing (via Ancient Greek 办谩苍苍补) of a word of Semitic origin such as Akkadian 辩补苍奴, 鈥渞eed鈥�; related words in modern Semitic languages include Arabic 辩补苍腻丑, 鈥渃anal, channel,鈥� and Hebrew 辩腻苍别丑 鈥渃ane, reed, stem.鈥� In this way, the Semitic source of Latin canna is also the source of English canal, cane, canister, cannoli, cannon, canon, canyon, channel, and鈥攆or fashion mavens鈥攖he surname Chanel. Snye was first recorded in English in the 1810s.
EXAMPLE OF SNYE USED IN A SENTENCE
The snye joined the main waterway right in front of their cabin, which made for a perfect fishing spot.
malinger
verb
to pretend illness, especially in order to shirk one's duty, avoid work, etc.
More about malinger
Malinger, 鈥渢o pretend illness,鈥� is an adaptation of French malingre, 鈥渟ickly, ailing,鈥� with a change in spelling perhaps because of the influence of English linger, which is not at all related. A common hypothesis is that malingre is formed from Old French mal, 鈥渂adly,鈥� and heingre, 鈥渉aggard, scrawny.鈥� Alternatively, the mal- element may come from the related term malade, 鈥渟ick,鈥� the source of malady. Heingre is also of unclear origin, but a clue may lie in German hager, 鈥済aunt,鈥� which is鈥攜et again鈥攐f unknown origin. Nevertheless, hager is perhaps connected to English haggard. Malinger was first recorded in English in the 1810s.
EXAMPLE OF MALINGER USED IN A SENTENCE
When the sun is shining and the birds are singing, it may be tempting to malinger.