推卸
tuī xiè · HSK 7
to shift
🤚 推 push + 卸 unload = push the blame off and unload it onto someone else
推 means to push and 卸 means to unload (as in taking cargo off a truck). Together they describe pushing a duty away and dumping it elsewhere — passing the buck and dodging responsibility.
推 — hand radical 扌 + 隹 (short-tailed bird)
A semantic-phonetic compound: the hand radical 扌 gives the meaning 'to push' or act with the hand, while 隹 supplies the sound (originally close to 'tui'). The core sense has stayed remarkably stable, expanding from physical pushing to figurative uses like 'recommend' or 'infer'.
卸 — 卩 (seal/kneeling person) + 卸 phonetic 午
卸 originally depicted unloading a cart or unyoking horses, showing a person (卩) removing the harness. The character combines the kneeling figure 卩 with phonetic elements suggesting the action of taking off or removing. Its meaning extended from unloading goods to dismantling, removing, or shedding more generally.