TSUMUGU · TOCFL 1 (est.) · 字
卡
ㄎㄚˇ · kǎ
verb — to wedge, jam; noun — card; checkpoint
字源 FORM — what the parts do
A late character, built by eye, not from a sound series: 上 over 下 share one stroke, and a thing caught between up and down can move neither way — 卡住. From stuck, the small stiff thing wedged in a slot: 卡片、信用卡, and the gate that stops you, 關卡.
故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by
一樣東西，上（上）不去、下（下）不來，夾在當中——卡住了。
A thing that can go neither up (上) nor down (下), pinched between — stuck.
自撰記憶法
意 · Meanings
(本義)卡住— to wedge, get stuck常用
→卡片、信用卡— card常用
⇒關卡— checkpoint, barrier gate
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension