TSUMUGU · TOCFL 1 · 字
筷
ㄎㄨㄞˋ · kuài
noun — chopsticks
字源 FORM — what the parts do
Bamboo (竹) with 快 kuài for sound, exact. The old word is 箸 — boatmen would not say it: it sounds like 住, stopping, the one thing a boat must not do. They flipped to the lucky opposite, 快, added the bamboo, and the sticks have been 筷 ever since.
故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by
「開船嘍！」船家不說箸，舉起竹（竹）筷喊快（快）。
"Casting off!" — the boatman will not say zhù; he lifts the bamboo (竹) sticks and calls them quick (快).
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
(本義)筷子— chopsticks常用
→碗筷— bowls and chopsticks — the table set
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension
關 · Related
箸zhùthe word it replaced — 閩南語 still says it快kuàithe bare donor — speed, and the boatman's luck