Component user synonyms
At HanziHero, we’ve given each component a name. Each component similarly has a mnemonic to help you remember that name.
However, there may be times where the name(s) we have provided is slightly different than the one you usually think of when you see the component. In that case, you can add your own user synonym.
How user synonyms works
A user synonym is an alternate meaning answer that you can type in during your reviews. In addition to the primary and alternate meanings a component has, HanziHero will also check if the answer you provide matches any user synonyms. If it does, HanziHero will consider the answer as correct.
Choosing user synonyms
When choosing a user synonym for a component, you should only use something that is a true synonym of the name of the component. This ensures that you can still use the existing mnemonic for the component, and that you will be able to understand all of the mnemonics of the characters that use that component.
Good user synonym example
Let’s consider the 行 sandals component. The sandals page mnemonic mentions that the strokes seem to depict two pairs of sandals lying on the ground.
Another word for “sandals” in Australian English is “thongs”. You may be Australian and always think of this word and incorrectly type it in your reviews. Or you may not be Australian but just watched a bunch of Australian TV, or have too many Australian friends, or just always had an affinity for Australian English.
In either case, this is really a true synonym of the original component name, and is a good candidate to add. Even though you are used to this different word, it still refers to the same underlying concept.
When you later encounter characters that use that component, because your synonym and the object the component refers to are more or less the same, you will not be confused or get tripped up when reading character mnemonics.
Bad user synonym example
A bad use of the user synonym function would be to take the same 行 sandals component but give it the user synonym “spaceship”, because you think it looks like something in Star Wars.
The issue of doing that is threefold.
The first is that you will not be able to use the existing mnemonic we have. Instead you will need to remember the new name with your own mnemonic. Or worse, memorize the new name with no mnemonic at all, but instead relying on brute memorization.
The second is that you will not be able to properly use the existing mnemonics for all characters which use that component. The mnemonic for each character contains the names of each of the components, you will be confused as you previously memorized the component as “space ship” but it is always referred to as “sandal”, which has no shared meaning.
The third issue is that your new name refers to an object that might be shared by a different component. In this case, we already have a 與 space capsule component, which is similar in meaning to “spaceship”. Now you will sometimes mix up our spaceship component with the sandals component you have effectively renamed.
Adding a user synonym
You can add a user synonym at any time by first navigating to the page of the component you want to add it for.
There you can click on the Add synonym button to add a new synonym. That will pop open a new input that you can type your user synonym into.
Once you have finished typing it in, press the ENTER key to submit the new user synonym.
Once it is saved, it will show up in the UI as grey badge.
Removing a user synonym
If you wish to remove an existing user synonym, you can do so at any time by clicking on the X on the badge. Doing so will remove the user synonym.
