驳 bó variegated
variegated; motley
How to remember 驳: 马 horse + 爻 crossed lines = variegated. At the pony farm, the girl's favourite horse has patches and crossed lines of brown, white and black, a coat so variegated nobody can name its colour.
Component breakdown
驳 = 马 horse + 爻 crossed lines
- 马 horse
- 爻 crossed lines
At the pony farm, the girl's favourite horse has patches and crossed lines of brown, white and black, a coat so variegated nobody can name its colour.
How it is used
- Core modern job is to refute / rebut - 反驳 (fǎnbó) to retort, argue back; 批驳 (pībó) to refute and criticize; 驳回 (bóhuí) to reject/overrule (an appeal, a request) - 上诉被驳回 (shàngsù bèi bóhuí) the appeal was dismissed.
- 反驳 answers an argument point-for-point; 驳回 is an authority formally throwing out a request (courts, officials).
- Separate sense 'mottled/mixed' survives in 斑驳 (bānbó) mottled, dappled - 斑驳的墙 (bānbó de qiáng) a weather-stained wall.