Atamaji
逃

逃

On reading: TOU
Kun reading: ni(geru), noga(reru)

The character for escape. Usually from something quite small.

When “逃” fills a head

Why it is in the set

Because wanting to be out of a situation is different from wanting to rest, and the set needed the sharper of the two. 逃 is also handled with some care: a joke about running away can land badly, so the generated lines keep it small — a meeting, an inbox, a Tuesday. Never anything that sounds like a life.

What a head full of it looks like

Calculating whether you could leave early. A browser tab open on flights you will not book. The fantasy about a completely different job, held loosely, for about four minutes. A head led by 逃 is not in crisis. It is looking at the door.

Words that use it

逃げる (nigeru, to run away), 逃げ道 (nigemichi, a way out), 逃避 (touhi, evasion or escapism), 逃亡 (toubou, flight from the law), 見逃す (minogasu, to let something pass).

Kanji it turns up with

忙 (busy) or 締 (deadlines) behind 逃 is the ordinary version. 旅 (travel) behind it is the version with a plan attached.

Where “逃” comes from

The road radical 辶 underneath, 兆 on top for the sound TOU. A road taken away from something.

兆 on its own means an omen, and in modern Japanese also a trillion. It is here purely for the sound.

Japanese separates 逃げる (nigeru, to run from) from 逃れる (nogareru, to get clear of). The first is an action, the second an outcome.

A line you might get for “逃”

“Would rather be elsewhere. Elsewhere is not specified.”

Count the “逃” in your own head

Others in “Getting away”

“逃” is filed under “Getting away”. These are the rest of that group.

The 36 kanji

This is entirely a joke and has nothing to do with any real person.