牙 乚 Dangerous Dentist

These are the characters in this series. To see them put together in a story, click on the image above to access the pdf. Then review and quiz yourself at the bottom.

dùn

pause [n./v.]
屯tún + 页
stockpile + page/head

stockpile makes you pause to turn your head during the tour OR The dentist's ghost carries a victim’s head back to his haunt and pauses at his stockpile to grab a new hook.

raven
牙yá + 鸟
tooth + bird

Your terror is heightened by the decor in the dental office. This dentist seems obsessed with creepy birds. There is a raven mounted in the corner with a tooth impaled on his beak, like the bird was the one who removed it.

xié

wicked
牙yá + 阝
tooth + city walls

Dreaming about a wicked dentist’s ghost, who lurks by the city walls at night, waiting for victims from whom he can extract a tooth.

zhā

prick
扌 + 乚
hand + dental hook

The dentist uses a dental hook to prick the teeth, looking for soft spots.

ya

wow!
口 + 牙yá
mouth + tooth

You sit down, open your mouth, and the dentist says, “Wow!” not in a good way, when he sees your teeth.

hǒu

roar [v.]
口 + 孔
mouth + cavity

If the dentist's numbing shots in your mouth weren’t precise enough, there was roaring when he filled that cavity.

齿

chǐ

teeth
止zhǐ + 人 + 凵
footprint + person + pit

You pass out and wake up sweating from a nightmare: the dentist has you in a pit and is stepping on your head, demanding your teeth.

kǒng

cavity
子 + 乚
child + dental hook

On dental visits as a child, more often that not, the dental hook finds a cavity.

polished
牙yá + 隹
tooth + special bird

In a corner of the dentist office is a grinning, polished turkey. Wait, turkeys don’t have teeth!

A polished politician has perfect teeth but may be a turkey.

líng

age level
齿 + 令lìng
teeth + orders/alarm clock

Losing baby teeth is a right of passage in many cultures, representing moving on to the next age level. If your baby teeth are not falling out on their own, alarm bells ring for the dentist, and he will recommend extraction.

flatten
车 + 乚
vehicle + dental hook

You tear out of the dentist’s office, slam your car into reverse and flatten a dental hook as you speed out of the parking lot.

luàn

chaos
舌 + 乚
tongue + dental hook

Dentist is poking around with his dental hook and hooks your tongue. Chaos!! Pain!

surprised
讠 + 牙yá
microphone + tooth

You are startled out of your daydream, surprised to hear your name over the loud speaker at the dental office.

tún

stockpile
一 + 凵 + 乚
one + pit + dental hook

In one pit, the dentist's ghost stores teeth he has stolen, in another, he stockpiles dental hooks.

sprout
艹 + 牙yá
flowers + tooth

In one culture, baby teeth are buried, and the sprouts that come up above them represent new adult teeth.

yǐn

*dental hook
fishing modified

穿

chuān

pass through
穴 + 牙
hole + tooth

"If the dentist isn't careful, he may get a hole in his finger from your tooth passing through it if you decide to bite down hard!" (Dangerous Dentist)

ceremony
礻 + 乚
Eastern altar + dental hook

"Dear Ancestors, this dental hook is being offered on the altar in an appeasement ceremony to you, our dentist ancestor, who hasn’t been able to rest in peace. Please accept it and leave us alone." (Petitioning the Ancestors)

乚 looks like an "L" for lǐ

牙 乚 Dangerous Dentist

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