酉

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sign of the bird

On-Yomi: ユウ — Kun-Yomi: とり

Elements:

sign of the bird, whiskey bottle, west, one

Heisig story:

Though we shall later encounter the kanji for bird, we introduce this one for the tenth sign of the zodiac mainly because of its use as a primitive, where it has a different meaning.

Heisig comment:

* As a primitive, it means whiskey bottle. In its pictograph, you can see the loosely corked lid, the bottle and the contents (about one-third full). You might also think of the Spanish "porrón," a decanter shaped like a long-necked bird.

Koohii stories:

1) [astridtops] 15-7-2006(181): The sign of the bird on this whiskey bottle is of course the Famous Grouse blended Scotch.

2) [Katsuo] 3-4-2007(124): Normally birds fly south, but one bird flew west. People were worried about it and kept asking "Is there any sign of the bird – you know, the one that flew west?".

3) [fagie37] 19-7-2008(12): It's time for a drinking game everyone! If you see the sign of the bird, take a drink from your whiskey bottle.

4) [TheSlakey] 24-12-2008(11): The Sign of the Bird on Greygoose Vodka. It's got such a fancy bottle, but I think Absolut tastes smoother.

5) [jabberwockychortles] 14-11-2009(10): The driver had drunk too much whiskey and was driving too fast, giving all the slow drivers the sign of the bird.

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