吃 (hek3)

This week’s character is 吃 (hek3) which means “eat”.

This is the formal term, as usually we say 食 (sik6) in daily conversation.

When you look at the two components of 吃 (hek3), you can see it is made up of 口 (hau2, meaning “mouth”) and 乞 (hat1, meaning “beg”).

It’s just so perfect, since when we’re hungry and we want to eat, we open our mouths to beg for food! 🤣

(yes I still do this as an adult when I’m too lazy to get up from the couch and want to be fed)