Thursday, August 24, 2017

吉 and friends; 甫 and friends. Or: the joy of needlepoint

吉:  joy, luck.  Either a cross on an altar (how lucky we are to have it!), or a human figure stretching his arms out for joy, standing on a pedestal, celebrating his good luck.

結:  tie, bind.  "Blest be the ties that bind."  We're joyful and lucky to be bound by such a common thread.

詰:  rebuke, reprove.  It's good luck to have those whose words rebuke and reprove us, pushing us toward virtue.  Sort of like "faithful are the wounds of a friend."

舎:  cottage.  The small roofed dwelling is a joy that we're lucky to have.



Henshall says 甫 refers to hands using a tool.  But he also suggests treating that stuff at the top as a needle and a point.  I'll go further in my mnemonic from point of a needle (I think he means) to needlepoint, the craft. This helps because I can base mnemonics for many of the derived characters on needlepoint.

So here we go

甫: for the first time, not until.  Some sweet old thing is making a needlepoint for baby's first time in the world, but not until baby arrives.

舗: store or shop.  A little cottage-like building with needlepoint supplies is a kind of store.

捕:  capture, catch.  Use your other hand to catch loose threads while doing needlepoint.

哺:  nurse, suckle.  Do needlepoint while letting baby eat.

浦:  bay.  Branch out in your needlepoint and do an image of the waters of the bay.

補:  learner, compensate, offset, supplement.  The learner of needlepoint can supplement income by mending clothes, too.



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