Mnemonic for 扱 ("Handle") somewhat misleading

[BambooCake]

I feel like the mnemonic for 扱 (“Handle”) is kind of unfortunate.

Where do you put your fingers when you’re on an escalator? On the handle! Okay, so maybe it’s not a handle and more of a railing, but for the sake of this kanji, picture a handle instead.

The mnemonic uses a “handle” (like a railing) for the analogy. But as far as I can tell (please correct me if I’m wrong!) 扱 in Japanese is only used in the sense of “to deal with, treat, operate”, which just happens to be the same word (“to handle”) in English. But I think the meaning mnemonic should help to remember the actual meaning of the kanji, and not involve another meaning (“railing”) which just happens to use the same word in English. It’s almost like another step is required to get from the mnemonic to the actual meaning, which is especially misleading if you’re (like me) not an English native speaker. In my mind, the kanji is now linked to physical railings/knobs and the like, which isn’t really helpful.

I get that the “handle” (= railing) mnemonic is kind of convenient given the meanings of the radicals, but I think there might be a better option out there (e.g. “If you use your hands to handle/operate an escalator” or something). It’s a minor issue, but I feel like it’s worth considering to change the mnemonic.

[davebp]

I understand your point, but I am not sure that these are two unrelated things.

You operate a lot of things using handles, at least you used to before the invention of touch screens. That’s why English uses the word handle to mean operate.

[BambooCake]

I would not say “unrelated”, but the mnemonic relies on a meaning which the kanji in question is not understood as (for a physical handle or railing, words like 取っ手, ハンドル, 柄, 摘み, 欄干, 手すり, 高欄 seem to be used). This is suboptimal, in my opinion.