卖乖

卖

賣

mài

乖

gua̅i

to show off one's cleverness / (of sb who has received beneficial treatment) to profess to have been hard done by

Characters and words in 卖乖

卖

賣

mài = m + ai4

to sell / to betray / to spare no effort / to show off or flaunt

卖 = 十 + ㇖ + 头 : Mahatma Gandhi (m) wants to get rid of his worldly possessions and sets up a flea market in the airplane's bathroom (ai4). He displays a cross (十), a sickle (㇖) and a skull (头) which he wants to sell (卖), so he attached price tags to all of them.

乖

gua̅i = gu + ai1

(of a child) obedient, well-behaved / clever / shrewd / alert / perverse / contrary to reason / irregular / abnormal

乖 = 北 + 千 : Gitta Giraffe wants to behave well in front of the airplane. She has a compass rose and a kilo, but she is totally not going to squash the compass rose.