剥
bāo , bō · HSK 7
to peel
🍌🔪 sounds like BOW — you bow down to peel a banana from the bottom
The reading bāo is used for peeling by hand (fruit, shells). bō is the literary reading for stripping or exploiting. Knife (刂) on the right + 录 hints at scraping layers off systematically.
剥 — 录 (carve) + 刂 (knife radical)
剥 is a semantic compound: 刂 (knife) on the right shows the action, while 录 on the left originally depicted carving or scraping. Together they convey peeling or stripping something off with a blade. The two readings split usage: bāo in everyday speech (peel fruit), bō in compounds (剥削 exploit).