How to Write 葩 (pā) — Meaning “flower / petal”

Imagine a flower (艹) that opens with a 'pa' sound, like a pop. The bottom part 巴 looks like a person bending over to smell the flower, helping you recall it's about blossoms. You can also think of the slang word 奇葩 (qípā) meaning 'weirdo' to associate the sound with something unusual.

The top radical 艹 is written with three strokes: horizontal, vertical, and a left-falling stroke. The bottom part 巴 has four strokes: a horizontal fold hook, a vertical, a horizontal, and a vertical hook. A common mistake is making the bottom part too wide or forgetting the hook in the last stroke.

荷 (hé) means 'lotus' and uses the radical 艹 with 何 (hé) as phonetic, while 荸 (bí) is used in 荸荠 (bíqi, water chestnut). 葩 specifically means 'flower petal' and is not used for common plants. Visually, 葩 has 巴 at the bottom, whereas 荷 has 何 and 荸 has 孛.

葩 appears most often in the word 奇葩 (qípā), originally meaning 'exotic flower' but now commonly used as slang for a 'weirdo' or 'eccentric person'. It is also part of the popular debate show title 奇葩说 (Qípā Shuō). Use it informally to describe something bizarre or someone with unusual behavior.

Common words containing 葩 include: 奇葩 (qí pā) — exotic flower / (slang) weirdo / eccentric; 奇葩说 (qí pā shuō) — I Can BB (a popular Chinese debate show); 奇葩事 (qí pā shì) — bizarre incident / weird thing.