Lesson 5 Flashcards
fish guts
[75]
乙
The fishhook drags out the fish guts
*fishhook/hook
riot
[76]
乱
In a riot, manners are laid aside and tempers get short, even in so courtesy-conscious a land as Japan. This kanji shows what happens to a rioting tongue: it gets “barbed” like a fishhook, and sets to attacking the opposition, to hook them as it were.
*tongue, fishhook/hook
straightaway
[77]
直
The metal barb has been flattened out/ straightened out (and fixed) so it can pass through the eye of the needle straightaway.
*needle, eye, fishhook/hook
P: tool
具 (Bottom half)
All the tools sit on top of the carpenter’s table
tool
[78]
具
Every one of the carpenter’s tools had an eye that watched his meticulous work closely.
*eye, tool
true
[79]
真
This is not just a regular needle. It is a tool used to see what is true or not true. If you look through the eye of a needle it will reveal the truth.
*eye of the needle, tool
P: by one’s side
右 (top half)
It indicates where your hands (your ten fingers) fall when you let them droop: by your side.
OR
When you do really find a ten, they will stay by your side.
craft
[80]
工
Like the shape of an I-beam.
*craft, I-beam, artificial
left
[81]
左
The Left is traditionally considered the side full of people who do witch craft.
*by one’s side, craft
right
[82]
右
Imagine a little mouth hanging down by your side (like a little voice of conscience) telling you the right thing to do.
*by one’s side, mouth
possess
[83]
有
Think of it as an evil spirit in possession of one’s soul, who can be exorcized only by allowing fresh meat to hang by one’s side unit it begins to putrefy and stink so bad that the demon departs.
*by one’s side, meat
bribe
[84]
賄
Those who are under “money possession” are easy to bribe with a few extra shells (money).
*shellfish/money, possess
tribute
[85]
貢
A tribute has a kind of double meaning in English: honor paid freely and money collected by coercion. Simply because a ruler bestows a noble name on a deed is hardly any consolation to the masses who must part with their hard-earned money. Little wonder that this ancient craft of getting money by calling it a tribute has given way to a name closer to how it feels to those who pay it: a tax.
*craft, shellfish/money
paragraph
[86]
項
The making of paragraphs is a craft done in the head.
*craft, head
sword
[87]
刀
Looks like a sword handle.
*P: dagger (when in this shape), saber (when in stretched long form)
blade
[88]
刃
Think of using a dagger as a razor blade, and it shouldn’t be hard to imagine cutting yourself accidentally. See the little drop of blood clinging to the blade?
*sword/dagger/saber, drop of something
cut
[89]
切
It is hard to think of cutting anything with a knife without imagining one of those skillful Japanese chefs. Only let us say that he has had too much to drink at a party, grabs a dagger lying on the mantlepiece and starts dicing up everything in sight, starting with the hors d’oeuvres and going on to the furniture and the carpets…
*diced, dagger
seduce
[90]
召
The circus performer seduced the woman by showing off their dagger juggling skills. Her mouth hung open in amazement and appreciation of their skills.
*dagger, mouth
shining
[91]
昭
Let the key word suggest shining one’s shoes. The man’s shoes were shined to perfection. The sun was so seduced by the sight that it shone down on them, setting them shinning for everyone to see.
*sun, seduce
rule
[92]
則
The character depicts a clam alongside a great and flashing saber. Think of digging for clams in an area where there are gaming rules governing how large a find has to be before you can keep it. So you take your trusty saber, which you have carefully notched like a yardstick, crack open a clam, and then measure the poor beastie to see if it is as long as the rules say it has to be.
*shellfish/money, saber
P: wealth
畐
The over wealthy are also over fed. One single mouth devouring all the harvest of the fields.
*one, mouth, field
vice-
[93]
副
The key word vice has the sense of someone second-in-command, like a vice-president. If you are the president of a company you own you will need to split the wealth with you vice-president.
*wealth, saber
separate
[94]
別
In the Old East, the samurai and his saber were never separated. They were constant companions, like the cowboy of the Old West and his gun. This character depicts what must have been the height of separation-anxiety for a samurai: to be bound up with a rope and unable to get to his saber leaning only a few feet away from him. Look at that mouth bellowing out for shame and sorrow!
*mouth, bound up, saber
street
[95]
丁
A pictograph of a street sign on a long pole.
*P: nail, spike
town
[96]
町
This is a depiction of a rural town that is just streets and rice paddies!
*field, street/nail/spike
can
[97]
可
Remember the story about the “Little Engine that Could” when you hear this key word. See the determined little locomotive huffing and puffing up the mountain - “I think I can, I think I can…” - spitting railroad spikes out of its mouth as it chews up the line to the top.
*street/nail/spike, mouth
place on the head
[98]
頂
If you tried saying “hit the nail on the head” in Japanese some may take it to mean literally and try to actually place a nail some place on your head.
*Road/nail/spike, head
