Hi everyone! I'm not sure if this question has been posted, I didn't see it, so here goes!

I've read that people sometimes make their own primitives instead of using Heisig's. How has this worked for anyone that has tried it? How far away from the original meaning he gave it do you go? Do you have any guidelines?

I'm just about to break 300, and I'm having trouble with "walking legs" being memorable in any story. I want to change it, but I'm not sure if I should or what to change it to. Any ideas? Thanks! ^_^

Keri

There's Data instead of "state of mind" and Mr. T instead of "person", Spiderman and Venom for "thread", and numerous others.

I personally made up my own primitive when the primitive only occurred in say 3 kanji in a row. I suited the primitive so I can use it for all 3 kanji like a continuing story.

Also for the primitive "silver" I used Riddick, for "person" I used Cloud from Final Fantasy 7, for the left side of kanji such as 院 I used "B". Literally a guy named "B" with all sorts of problems. I could write a book about his life because that primitive is used so much.

Long story short, it can be anything.

As for walking legs I just kinda pushed through it. I recommend looking at a few of the kanji that use "walking legs" and their keywords and see if you can use a common theme in all their stories that stick well with you.

Maybe imagine goose-stepping in some form or another?

Or someone using stilts...

NEEDLE + EYE + HEART = X-RAY MACHINE (drop the machine if you think that works better)
徳 The BENEVOLENCE of a rich man has donated a LINE of X-RAY MACHINES to the hospital.
聴 If you use your EAR like an X-RAY MACHINE, you are a good LISTENER.

FLOWER + TURKEY + CROTCH = SAFE (FLOWER + VESSEL if you prefer)
穫 WHEAT is stored in a SAFE after a successful HARVEST.
獲 A WILD DOG is stuffed into a SAFE after being SEIZED by the dogcatcher.
護 A MICROPHONE (alternate WORD(s) primitive) is placed on top of a SAFE to further SAFEGUARD it from noisy intruders. Note the primitive for SAFE is found in SAFEGUARD.

Well, now you should remember.

Just think back to this thread and it will forever stick in your head.

"...oh, yeah! the one I opened a thread about!"

I would probably not change walking legs... it's a very common primitive and a LOT of kanji using it is easy to make stories for using it. One way to make it more memorable is to think of some character you know which walks a lot and think of that character. Maybe Sonic from the Sega Video games for example?