老

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old man

On-Yomi: ロウ — Kun-Yomi: お.いる、ふ.ける

Elements:

old man, old man, soil, dirt, ground, spoon, sitting on the ground

Heisig story:

First, do not confuse this character with venerable old man (Frame 849), which is far more rarely used. The character for an old man begins with an abbreviation of the character for somebody, the nose having been shortened into a simple crisscross of lines. But there is another, simpler way to remember it all: the soil drawn first indicates that one has come close to the age when "dust to dust" begins to take on a personal meaning; the diagonal walking stick for getting around; and the spoon for being spoon-fed.

Heisig comment:

* As a primitive, the meaning is the same, but the final two strokes are omitted so that they can be replaced with other elements.

Koohii stories:

1) [ayoung24] 18-12-2006(200): An old man, wondering what it's like in a grave, sits in a freshly dug plot. When a gravekeeper mistakes him for dead and begins burying him with soil, the old man saves himself by flailing his walking stick in the air.

2) [aphasiac] 14-8-2009(71): The dirty old man had a stroke so now he must be spoon fed.

3) [libsrone] 30-5-2008(37): Old man sits in the dirt, having a stroke.

4) [myglagata] 18-3-2009(18): An OLD MAN in a Japanese nursing home must follow the rules: no spooning the nurses or soiling pants. (The slash is like a katakana "no" : ノ).

5) [nicjsb] 4-10-2008(16): Old men soil themselves, have diagonal walking sticks, and must be spoon fed.

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