破旧
pò jiù · HSK 7
shabby
👕 破 broken + 旧 old = worn-out and old, i.e. shabby
破 — stone 石 + skin/hide 皮
破 is a semantic-phonetic compound: 石 (stone) gives the meaning 'to break, smash,' since stones were used to crack things, while 皮 (pí) supplies the sound. The original sense of breaking stone broadened to mean 'broken,' 'damaged,' or 'to defeat.'
旧 — 丨 vertical stroke + 日 sun/day
旧 is the simplified form of 舊, which originally depicted an owl (萑) perched on a nest (臼) and was borrowed phonetically to mean 'old' or 'former.' The modern simplified shape combines 丨 with 日 (sun/day), suggesting days gone by. Today it means 'old,' 'former,' or 'used.'