先 Previous

Radical Combination

• 丿

  Slide
• 土

  Dirt
• 儿

  Legs

Meaning

Primary

Previous

Alternatives

Ahead, Before

Mnemonic

If you go down a slide and get dirt on your legs, it must have been the fault of the previous person, aka the person who went down the slide ahead of you. They should've cleaned off their dirty legs before they went down the slide, but they didn't, and now you've got dirt all over your legs too.

Hints

Try to imagine the previous person — they must have been absolutely filthy to leave all this dirt behind. Why'd they have to go down the slide ahead of you?! If only you could've gotten here before them…

Readings

On’yomi

せん

Kun’yomi

さき, ま

Nanori

None

Mnemonic

Then you realize: the previous person on the slide must've been a centaur (せん). Centaurs track dirt everywhere 'cause they're always galloping around in the wilderness.

Hints

If you look really far off into the distance ahead of you, you might still be able to spot this dirty, slide-ruining centaur. Hurry up and go after him before he gets on another slide!