Borrowing vinegar from a neighbor was a homely image in old proverbs.
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Classical word for vinegar; modern Chinese uses 醋. You meet 醯 in old texts (the 'borrow vinegar from a neighbor' anecdote in 《论语》) and as the now-obsolete chemistry term for the acyl group.
Left side is 酉, the wine-jar radical that marks fermented and brewed things — vinegar being soured wine, the fit is exact.
semantic
㐬liú
flowing element
The right portion combines elements suggesting liquid produced by fermentation. With 酉 they together name the sour liquid drawn off from soured wine — vinegar.
