Not all Chinese characters with the 虫 signific are six-legged insects: some can be legless ("critter" is a rough translation for 蟲 chóng / chorng and 虫, its abbreviated form)
[1] 蛇 shé / sher “snakes”. Remember that 條 is the correct measure word: 兩條蛇 liǎngtiáo shé / leangtyau sher “two snakes”
Speaking of leglessness, there is a four-character expression (畫蛇添足 huà shé tiān zú / huah sher tian tzwu “[literally] add legs [after] drawing a snake”) which is commonly used to advise people not to engage in unnecessary, counterproductive activities (leave well enough alone).
BTW, if you are afraid of snakes, the photo shows a harmless (usually recognizable by round eyes) grass snake, but it is good to remember that there are many varieties of poisonous snakes in Taiwan. If you go hiking, please bring a stick to stir up grass and bushes.
[2] 蝌蚪 kēdǒu / kedoou “tadpole”
Small children (and their fathers: I still enjoy observing them) love to catch tadpoles and watch them grow up.
Similar to most animals, the correct measure word for 蝌蚪 is 隻: 我看得到好幾隻蝌蚪 Wǒ kàndedào hǎojǐzhǐ kēdǒu / Woo kann.derdaw haojiijy kedoou “I can see many tadpoles”.
[3] 蚯蚓 qiūyǐn / chiouyiin “earthworm”.
Just as for snakes (long, thin animals), the correct measure word for 蚯蚓 is 條: 江邊出現成千上萬條蚯蚓 Jiāngbiān chūxiàn chéngqiān-shàngwàntiáo qiūyǐn / Jiangbian chushiann cherngchian-shanqwanntyau chiouyiin “Tens of thousands of earthworms have appeared on the river bank”
[4] In PRC Mandarin (Putonghua), 蝸牛 “snail” is pronounced wōniú / uoniou, but in Taiwan Mandarin (Gwoyeu), which follows the pronunciation standard of the early 20th century, 蝸牛 is pronounced guāniú / guaniou
[5] The “official” name for this animal is 蛞蝓 kuòyú / kuohyu “slug”, but most people I know call it 鼻涕蟲 bítìchóng / byitihchorng “[literally] snot critter”, obviously named after the trail of slime it leaves behind.
[Summary showing the names of five legless creepy-crawlies in Chinese: 蛇, 蝌蚪, 蚯蚓, 蝸牛, 鼻涕蟲 (蛞蝓) snakes, tadpoles, worms, snails and slugs]
Phonetic Compounds
This post is part of a series that examines phonetic compounds 形聲字 xíngshēngzì / shyngshengtzyh (Chinese characters where one part provides a general category of meaning, and the other part provides a pronunciation clue [sometimes very accurate]).
More Information:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_characters#Phono-semantic_compounds
[1] Tarng Bih Daang Che “A praying mantis blocking a cart with its arms” 螳臂擋車
https://steemit.com/science/@wentong-syhhae/tarng-bih-daang-che-a-praying-mantis-blocking-a-cart-with-its-arms
[2] Chinese characters for insect names often include the 虫 signific: 螞蟻, 蝴蝶, 蟑螂, 蜈蚣, 蜻蜓, 蜘蛛
https://steemit.com/science/@wentong-syhhae/chinese-characters-for-insect-names-often-include-the-signific
Some other posts dealing with Chinese:
The Chinese character Dǒu / doou 斗 “dipper, ladle” (part of 北斗七星, the Chinese name for the Big Dipper) used to be a pictograph
https://steemit.com/etymology/@wentong-syhhae/the-chinese-character-d-u-doou-dipper-ladle-part-of-the-chinese-name-for-the-big-dipper-used-to-be-a-pictograph
Three Character Classic, 1:5 三字經: 養不教,父之過 Fathers who raise unethical children are irresponsible parents
https://steemit.com/cn/@wentong-syhhae/three-character-classic-1-5-fathers-who-raise-unethical-children-are-irresponsible-parents
Self Introduction: Enthusiastic INTP Polyglot
https://steemit.com/introduceyourself/@wentong-syhhae/enthusiastic-intp-polyglot
Image Credits:
Unless specifically marked, all images are Public Domain (copyright free), but modifications (colors, text etc.) are mine. Most tables (green and yellow columns) are designed by me and are CC--BY-SA @wentong-syhhae