In Yiddish, גליטש, glitsh means 'slip', while in English, glitch means malfunction.

Glitch is derived from glitsh, Yiddish for slippery place, and from glitshn, meaning to slide, or glide. Glitch was in use in the 1940s by radio announcers to indicate an on-air mistake.

Though not itself a Yiddish word, the origin of “glitch” can be traced back to the Yiddish noun “glitsh” meaning “slip” or “lapse,” and the Yiddish verb “glitshn” (from the German “glitschen”) meaning “slip.”

Glitch is derived from glitsh, Yiddish for slippery place, and from glitshn, meaning to slide, or glide. Glitch was in use in the 1940s by radio announcers to indicate an on-air mistake. By the 1950s, the term had migrated to television, where engineers used glitch to refer to technical problems.

Some reference books, including Random House's American Slang, claim that the term comes from the German word glitschen 'to slip' and the Yiddish word glitshn 'to slide, to skid'.