TSUMUGU · TOCFL B1 (est.) · 字
鈔
ㄔㄠ · chāo
noun — a banknote, paper money
字源 FORM — what the parts do
ITshǎo → chāo — initial hardens, tone climbs
Metal (金) marks it as money; 少 shǎo carries the sound, worn to chāo. The word once meant to copy or scoop out (cf. 抄); it settled onto printed money: 鈔票 the banknote, 現鈔 the cash on hand.
故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by
一張薄薄的紙頂一塊金（金）用——數一數，沒剩幾張（少）了。
A thin slip of paper standing in for metal (金) — you count, and only a few (少) are left.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
(本義)鈔票— a banknote常用
→現鈔— cash in hand
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension