推辞
tuī cí · HSK 7
to decline
🙅 推 push + 辞 words = push someone away with words = to decline
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'.
辞 — 舌 (tongue) + 辛 (bitter/blade)
Originally written 辭, depicting hands sorting tangled threads beside 辛 (a knife or judgment), meaning to settle disputes with words. The modern simplified form replaces the left side with 舌 (tongue), reinforcing the speech sense. Meanings extended from 'legal statement' to 'words, phrases, to take leave.'