Lesson 7 Flashcards
little
[110]
小
Here “little” means small or tiny. The image is one of three little drops, the first of which (the one in the middle) is written larger so that the kanji has some shape to it. The point of writing it three times is to pub the point in: little, little, nothing but little.
*three drops of something
*P: little
few
[111]
少
The drop at the bottom is extended because a single, isolated drop will never appear beneath its relative primitive in its normal size, for fear it would drop off and get lost. Let the tiny drop indicate a further belitling of what is already “little” - thus making it a few of something little.
*little, a drop of something
large
[112]
大
A pictograph of a large sumo wrestler in a ready stance.
*P: large dog, St. Bernard
many
[113]
多
“Many moons ago” aka Once Upon a Time. The moons are lacking their final strokes because they are partially hidden behind the clouds of time.
*moons
evening
[114]
夕
Just as the word evening adds a touch of formality or romanticism to the ordinary word “night,” so the kanji for evening takes the ordinary looking moon in the night sky and has a cloud pass over it (as in the previous character).
*P: evening
eventide
[115]
汐
*Drops of water inching their way up the shore in the evening (the tide coming up). It is called “eventide”.
*drops of water, evening
outside
[116]
外
Every magician worth his abracadabra knows, bringing your magic wand out into the evening air makes your magic much more powerful than if you were to stay indoors. Hence, evening and magic wand takes you naturally outside;
*evening, magic wand
name
[117]
名
A father in an African tribe sneaking into the tent of his newborn and whispering the name he has chosen for them in their ear, so at evening time, a mouth pronounces a name.
*evening, mouth
P: cliff
厂
stone
[118]
石
With a mouth under a cliff, what else could we have here but the entrance to a secret cavern, before which a great stone has been rolled so that none may enter.
This is the only time that the second stroke in cliff will reach over to the middle of the horizontal stroke.
*cliff, stone
*P: stone
resemblance
[119]
肖
The word resemblance should suggest, among other things, a son’s resemblance to his father. A “chip off the old block” is the way we often put it, but the character is more simple. It speaks of a little bit of flesh. “He has a little of his father’s body in him. I can see the resemblance.”
*a little, flesh
*P: spark/ candle
(Pictograph of the body of a candle with a little spark of light on top.)
nitrate
[120]
硝
Nitrate suggests nitric acid, which can eat its way through some pretty tough substances. Here we imagine pouring it over a rock and watching the sparks fly as it bores a hole through the rock.
*stone, spark/candle
smash
[121]
砕
The needle bat was very spiky. The needles on it helped smash the rock into tiny pieces.
*stone, baseball, needle
sand
[122]
砂
Good sand for beaches has few or no stones in it.
*stone, a few
jealous
[123]
妬
The woman was jealous of the beautiful stone on the other woman’s wedding ring. She wanted one of her own.
*woman, stone
plane
[124]
削
Using a spark of heat and the firm swipe and press of the blade, the crafts man was able to mold the warm metal into a flat plane.
*spark/candle, saber
ray
[125]
光
Rays of sunlight are like little legs of the sun.
*little, human legs (the fourth stroke that separates them is added for aesthetic reasons)
plump
[126]
太
Plump people are a bit larger than others. They have a drop more of body fat.
*large/St.Bernard, a drop of something
utensil
[127]
器
The picture in this kanji is not a pleasant one. It shows a large and fluffy St. Bernard dog stretched out on a table all stuffed and stewed and garnished with vegetables, its paws in the air and an apple in its mouth. At each corner of the table sits an eager but empty mouth, waiting for the utensils to arrive so the feast can begin.
*four mouths, large/St.Bernard
stinking
[128]
臭
This character is a bit friendlier to the animal world than the last one. Our friend the St. Bernard is alive and well, its nose in the air in disgust. There is something stinking somewhere.
*nose, large/St. Bernard
sniff
[129]
嗅
There is a stink that only the St. Bernard can smell. It can take One Sniff of a person’s mouth and, depending on whether it stinks or not, know if they are sick.
*mouth, stink
exquisite
[130]
妙
Truly exquisit woman are few and far between.
*woman, a few
focus
[131]
省
The kanji suggests picking up a few things and holding them before one’s eyes in order to focus on them better.
*a few, eye
thick
[132]
厚
The kid developed literally thick skin from being left on the cliffs and exposed to the sun.
*cliff, sun, child
strange
[133]
奇
Strange but true: the reason Thomas the tank engine had to keep hyping himself up saying “I think I can” is because he was actually the St.Bernard in a train disguise. St. Bernard genuinely wasn’t sure if he could do what trains can. Pretty strange, but our St. Bernard can do anything.
*large/St.Bernard, can
