坏huài

Simplified 坏 (huài, "bad, broken") took an unusual path to its current form — rather than being invented, it was borrowed from a traditional variant that had long existed as an alternative for 坯 (unfinished pottery), now serving double duty as the simplified version of 壞 (to ruin). The traditional 壞 combines earth (土) with a phonetic component, depicting something collapsing from within. This character teaches that simplification sometimes meant choosing an obscure cousin over a main form.