I can't really explain it, but ever since I learned a new word for "pinch" yesterday, I can't help thinking it's a kind of a tactile onomatopoeia.

qiā 掐

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Tell me it doesn't sound like the action of pinching or maybe the cry of someone who's just been pinched.

Qia! What are you doing?!

I kind of wish it were 4th tone, but then again that would be more severe sounding than a little pinch.

Stump the Chinese Bonus

This came up in a class when a student asked me how to say "qiā" in English. The demonstration she performed on her classmate was a pretty good clue, and I realized this is the first "qia" I've ever learned (I know now that there are more).I wrote "pinch" on the board for everyone else and explained it means "qiā." I saw heads nod in understanding and then the nervous looking around at classmates' papers started.I chuckled and said, "If you don't know how to write qiā, you can just write niē 捏 if you want," and that students nodded gratefully.I've got a lot to say about the hanzi roadblock that prevented my students from getting out of their own pinch and just writing niē 捏 without getting permission from me. But instead I choose to end this post feeling good that, back when I first learned niǔniǔ niēniē 扭扭捏捏 (documented here), I clicked the scissors icon at MDBG (giving me the individual characters' meanings) so I could offer the students an alternative to this fun little word. I can't wait for Saint Patrick's Day!