When “課” fills a head
Why it is in the set
Work needed a character, and 仕 (as in 仕事) was too narrow — it would have excluded students and anyone not in a job. 課 covers anything assigned from outside: coursework, quotas, the form that has to be in by Thursday. The modern 課金 sense was a bonus.
What a head full of it looks like
Reorganising the list instead of starting it. Knowing exactly how long each item will take and beginning none of them. The three small things that would take four minutes each and have been there a fortnight. A head led by 課 is well informed about its own backlog.
Words that use it
課題 (kadai, a task or assignment), 課金 (kakin, a charge; in games, spending), 日課 (nikka, a daily routine), 放課後 (houkago, after school), 総務課 (soumuka, the general affairs section).
Kanji it turns up with
締 (deadlines) behind 課 is work with a date on it. 推 behind it is the 課金 reading, and the quips take that route.
Where “課” comes from
The speech radical 言 on the left, and 果, fruit, on the right for the sound KA. Words, and a result: something set and then measured.
It is the character for a section of an organisation (総務課, the general affairs section) and for a lesson in a textbook (第一課, lesson one).
課金 (kakin) means a charge or a fee. In gaming it means spending real money in a free game, and that is now its most common everyday use among younger speakers.
A line you might get for “課”
“The list is being managed. Nothing on it is being done.”
Count the “課” in your own headOthers in “Everyday”
“課” is filed under “Everyday”. These are the rest of that group.
The 36 kanji
This is entirely a joke and has nothing to do with any real person.