折れる
おれる · oreru · JLPT N4 · verb-ichidan
to break
🥢 折 = hand 扌 + axe 斤: a hand takes an axe to it, so it snaps or bends
Sound hook: oreru is one vowel off 'error', and something that breaks is an error. 折れる is the intransitive partner of 折る (to break or fold something), so it covers what happens by itself: a bone breaks, paper is folded, a person gives in, a road turns.
折 — hand 扌 + axe 斤
Originally written as 折 with a hand (扌) breaking or chopping something with an axe (斤), depicting the act of snapping or cutting in two. The core meaning 'to break, snap, fold' extends metaphorically to 'bend,' 'turn back,' and 'discount' (as in reducing a price by breaking off part).