In RTK 1, Frame 71 the kanji 乙 is said to mean fish-guts. Does it also mean second, because Heisig has it in speech marks. Also many bold 'second' in the story section. What does this kanji mean and is the primitive just fish hook or also fishguts?

thanks

According to Kanjidic: the latter; duplicate; strange; witty.

The primitive is fishhook.

According to Goo 国語辞書, yes, it has a meaning of "second".

http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/jn2/316...%E4%B9%99/

乙「きのと」, as a supplimentary reference: Rikaisama lists that it can mean 2nd (as in part of a ranking system)- which Goo only further reinforces.

[Katsuo]

For 乙, "second" is the most common meaning and "fish guts" is extremely rare. Before changing the keyword, however, note that later in the book there is another kanji 秒 called "second". 乙 refers to rank or place, and 秒 to time (1/60 of a minute). Perhaps "second (2nd)" would be a suitable keyword for 乙.

乙nd might be a handy visual mnemonic.

When using 乙 as a primitive I would stick with Heisig's idea, i.e. fishhook.