Mysteries of vernacular: Jade.
通用俗语的谜团：Jade。
A hard, typically green stone.
Jade是指一种质地坚硬，通常为绿色的石头。
Until relatively recently, gemstones were believed to have magical, medicinal properties,
一直到近代，人们都还认为宝石有神奇的药用疗效，
and nothing was more effective at treating a kidney disorder than jade.
而且没有什么比玉石在治疗肾功能障碍上更有效了。
In the 16th century, the Spanish returned from the New World
十六世纪时，西班牙人从新大陆返回
with the mineral in their cargo holds and christened it, "piedra de la ijada," or loin stone.
在他们的货舱内，藏有一种矿石，他们将它命名为“piedra de la ijada”，也就是腰石。
It quickly became popular throughout Europe,
它迅速在整个欧洲变得受欢迎，
both as a cure for internal ailments and as a decorative ornament and was renamed jade by the French,
因为它既可作为内科治疗之用，也可作为居家饰品，之后，法国人将它更名为jade，
a word that was borrowed by the English and remains in use to this day.
一个从英文借来的单词，至今人们仍在使用。

In the 19th century, French mineralogists discovered that jade was being used to describe two distinct minerals:
到了十九世纪的时候，法国矿物学家发现jade被用来描述两种不同的矿物：
jadeite, which takes its name from jade, and the more common nephrite,
翡翠以jade的名字命名，以及更常见的软玉，
the root of which is the Greek word nephros, meaning kidney.
它的字根是希腊文nephros，意指肾。
In addition to describing these two minerals, jade also has an English homonym.
除了描述这两种矿物，jade也有一个英文的同形异义词。
With roots that predate the popularity of the lustral gemstone,
它的字根早于人们普遍熟知的lustral gemstone（除邪宝石），
jade was used to refer to either a disreputable woman or a broken-down horse.
jade要不是被用来泛指名声不好的女人，就是被用来形容落魄的马。
Thus, the word jaded, meaning worn out or lacking enthusiasm,
因此，jaded这个词的意思是破旧或缺乏热情，
has nothing to do with the gemstone, and instead, comes from the archaic, equine-related definition.
它其实与宝石毫无关系，相反地，它源自一种古老的、与马有关的定义。