1-curious稀奇的，古怪的，不同寻常的

The curious origins of the dollar symbol

2-potent 强有力的，强大的

3-emblematic of 象征性的，标志性的

The dollar sign is among the world's most potent symbols, emblematic of far more than US currency.

4-polyglot 多种语言的

5-ubiquity 普遍存在，到处存在

Yet despite its polyglot ubiquity, the origins of the dollar symbol remain far from clear.

6-mint 铸造（货币或金牌等）

In 1520, the kingdom of Bohemia began minting coins.

7-make its way ＋介词 到……地方去

It was the Dutch variation, daler, that made its way across the Atlantic in the pockets and on the tougues of early immigrants.

8-spring from 起源于，来自

It is no straightforward answer to the question where the dollar sign sprang from.

9-illusion 影射，暗指，间接提到

It was an illusion of the story of Moses winding a bronze snake around a pole in order to cure people who'd been bitten.

10-coinage 货币制度

11-legal tender 法定货币

Yet the most widely accepted theory in fact involve Spanish coinage, and it goes like this: in the colonies, trade between Spanish American and English American was lively, and peso was legal tender in US until 1857.

12-hover 靠近

13-superscript 上标

It was often shortened the initial "P" with an "S", hovering beside it in superscript.

14-scrawl 潦草的字迹

15-time-pressed 赶时间的

Gradually, thanks to the scrawl of time-pressed merchants, that "P" merged with the "S" and lost its curve, leaving the vertical stroke like a stake down the center of the "S".