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shellfish

On-Yomi: バイ — Kun-Yomi: かい

Elements:

shellfish, shellfish, clam, oyster, eye, animal legs, eight

Heisig story:

To remember the primitive elements that make up this kanji, an eye and animal legs, you might be tempted to think of it as a pictograph of a shellfish with its ridged shell at the top and two little legs sticking out of the bottom. But that might not help you recall later just how many ridges to put on the shell. Better to imagine a freakish shellfish with a single, gigantic eye roaming the beaches on its slender little legs, scaring the wits out of the sunbathers.

Heisig comment:

* When used as a primitive, in addition to shells, the meanings oyster and clam will often come in handy.

Koohii stories:

1) [stereovibe] 16-1-2008(52): Eye thought I saw a shellfish legging it down the beach!

2) [eugs51] 17-10-2007(36): Stare at the shellfish, it looks like an eye with legs.

3) [Teango] 6-3-2010(23): Remove the eyes and the legs, and a shellfish tastes great!

4) [CarlKenner] 5-7-2007(14): The guy couldn't BUY any shellfish which had one giant eye and walked on animal legs, so he went out in his kayak to catch some. (Kun readings are kai or gai, ON reading is BAI).

5) [TerryS] 21-11-2008(10): SHELLFISH look like big eyes with legs.

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