Mnemonic
A raindrop falls on your book of famous quotes, smearing the ink. You look up and see a huge cloud overhead about to drench everything. You quote the only line still readable: 'Every cloud has a silver lining'—but more rain pours down anyway.
Additional thoughts
Picture yourself outdoors reading a quote book when rain starts. The cloud above is the source of both the rain and the ironic quote. Rain on top, quote beneath — just like the kanji structure (雨 over 云).Quick recall
Rain smears your quote book, so you look up at the cloud and quote 'silver lining' as it pours.Details
The keyword for 雲 is cloud. This kanji refers to the masses of water vapor that float in the sky, forming visible formations overhead. It encompasses all types of clouds, from wispy cirrus to heavy rain clouds. In a broader sense, it can also suggest something lofty, distant, or obscured, much as clouds can veil the sky above.
- On'yomi
- うん
- Kun'yomi
- くも、-ぐも