<p>As others have commented, it is just another font. I would say just ignore it and as a learner, stick to the standard one for now, which is like three short strokes on the left. It would make more sense if we look into the origin of water character in Chinese: 水 (shui3). The pictographic form for 水 (shui3) looks like a river flow, which gradually evolved into the three strokes as the radical form for water character in Chinese: 水 (shui3).</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-01T15:55:17.610Z
2014-07-01T15:55:17.610Z
ChineseHulu.com
<p>There are many glyphs for Chinese characters, for example,</p>

<p><a href="http://www.zdic.net/z/1c/zy/6D17.htm" rel="nofollow">Some glyphs for character "洗"</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-02T11:37:47.807Z
2014-07-02T11:37:47.807Z
Henry HO
<p>You can just ignore the difference between print fonts and handwriting font.
It's in the same way that we don't write the letter 'g' (by hand) like the way we print it. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-13T14:04:41.297Z
2014-07-13T14:04:41.297Z
wsysuper
<p>When I see the radical being used in 洗 and 凉 in some books or even sougou. They break it up into a broken radical that looks nothing like it. </p>

<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/SRyCQ.png" alt="example"></p>

<p>Is it one of those things that are related only to computers and I should just ignore the difference?</p>

<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/56tbh.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-01T14:25:43.787Z
As Chinese I can't see anything special. What do you mean by "break it up into a broken radical"? What is the unbroken version of it?
Stan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-01T14:46:22.417Z
Just font issues I would imagine...
Mou某
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-01T14:52:08.167Z
In the character 洗 the water radical goes up cleanly in a stroke, on my PC it often looks like 3 little stripes. I have been taught to write it differently. Wonder if my language settings were wrong or if I should care that it looks different. On the pic the radical just looks very different. Maybe it's nothing and just font like you say.
aury
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-01T14:59:27.877Z
Please upload a picture about that one "cleanly in a stroke". I'm curious. Thanks. (It seemed font issues, as user3306356 said.) If you don't write it in running scripts, it generally should "look like 3 little stripes".
Stan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-01T15:05:05.627Z
I uploaded picture above. It is just a slight variation I guess and font issue. Embaressed to have wasted people's time. Sorry.
aury
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-01T15:17:02.843Z
Oh you mean the last stroke of `氵`. It is called 提(*Ti*), see this [wiki page](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroke_(CJKV_character)). In calligraphy, one can 顿笔 (press down the pen) first and then "flick it up and rightwards" -- that's how your second picture is written -- and it is counted only one stroke. However you can simply just write "3 little stripes", that's also OK.
Stan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-02T00:19:21.543Z
This throws me often too, though not for 氵. I used to get annoyed at 茶, 新 etc.: the 钩 (gōu) is missing in some fonts. Some fonts look nothing like the characters learners think of--though this must be the same in any language: In English there are [balloon fonts](http://image.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/637231/637231,1307712686,1/stock-vector-vector-font-made-from-balloons-in-letters-shape-78958189.jpg), [weird cursive fonts](http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs16/i/2007/224/0/5/Gothique_Cursive_V_II_by_Errance.jpg) (I'm having trouble with reading that =.=), etc. ...
Ming
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-02T03:18:24.847Z
@Ming though it's a little complex, but be aware that it's **not only** a font problem in 新 (and some other characters). The problem is, mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong have different standards for "the *glyph* of a character". If fonts are made following these standards, in mainland, 钩 should be kept, but in Hong Kong and Taiwan, there shouldn't be a 钩. Anyway, we don't need to worry about such a minor thing in the daily life.
Stan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-02T03:21:27.973Z
Hi @Stan ahh yes, I also seem to recall that in Japanese 茶 is missing the 钩. I totally forgot it was a character set thing too. Cheers :)
Ming
<characters>
Why does the radical for water and ice often look so weird
# Why does the radical for water and ice often look so weird

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-07-01)

When I see the radical being used in 洗 and 凉 in some books or even sougou. They break it up into a broken radical that looks nothing like it.

![example](https://i.sstatic.net/SRyCQ.png)

Is it one of those things that are related only to computers and I should just ignore the difference?

![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/56tbh.jpg)

**Tags:** characters

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: As Chinese I can't see anything special. What do you mean by "break it up into a broken radical"? What is the unbroken version of it?  
> **username_2**: Just font issues I would imagine...  
> **username_0**: In the character 洗 the water radical goes up cleanly in a stroke, on my PC it often looks like 3 little stripes. I have been taught to write it differently. Wonder if my language settings were wrong or if I should care that it looks different. On the pic the radical just looks very different. Maybe it's nothing and just font like you say.  
> **username_1**: Please upload a picture about that one "cleanly in a stroke". I'm curious. Thanks. (It seemed font issues, as user3306356 said.) If you don't write it in running scripts, it generally should "look like 3 little stripes".  
> **username_0**: I uploaded picture above. It is just a slight variation I guess and font issue. Embaressed to have wasted people's time. Sorry.  
> **username_1**: Oh you mean the last stroke of `氵`. It is called 提(*Ti*), see this [wiki page](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroke_(CJKV_character)). In calligraphy, one can 顿笔 (press down the pen) first and then "flick it up and rightwards" -- that's how your second picture is written -- and it is counted only one stroke. However you can simply just write "3 little stripes", that's also OK.  
> **username_3**: This throws me often too, though not for 氵. I used to get annoyed at 茶, 新 etc.: the 钩 (gōu) is missing in some fonts. Some fonts look nothing like the characters learners think of--though this must be the same in any language: In English there are [balloon fonts](http://image.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/637231/637231,1307712686,1/stock-vector-vector-font-made-from-balloons-in-letters-shape-78958189.jpg), [weird cursive fonts](http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs16/i/2007/224/0/5/Gothique_Cursive_V_II_by_Errance.jpg) (I'm having trouble with reading that =.=), etc. ...  
> **username_1**: @username_3 though it's a little complex, but be aware that it's **not only** a font problem in 新 (and some other characters). The problem is, mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong have different standards for "the *glyph* of a character". If fonts are made following these standards, in mainland, 钩 should be kept, but in Hong Kong and Taiwan, there shouldn't be a 钩. Anyway, we don't need to worry about such a minor thing in the daily life.  
> **username_3**: Hi @username_1 ahh yes, I also seem to recall that in Japanese 茶 is missing the 钩. I totally forgot it was a character set thing too. Cheers :)  

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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2014-07-01. Score: 2

As others have commented, it is just another font. I would say just ignore it and as a learner, stick to the standard one for now, which is like three short strokes on the left. It would make more sense if we look into the origin of water character in Chinese: 水 (shui3). The pictographic form for 水 (shui3) looks like a river flow, which gradually evolved into the three strokes as the radical form for water character in Chinese: 水 (shui3).


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### Answer by username_5 on 2014-07-02. Score: 1

There are many glyphs for Chinese characters, for example,

[Some glyphs for character "洗"](http://www.zdic.net/z/1c/zy/6D17.htm)


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### Answer by username_6 on 2014-07-13. Score: 1

You can just ignore the difference between print fonts and handwriting font.
It's in the same way that we don't write the letter 'g' (by hand) like the way we print it.


---

