Press a strip of leather between your hands. It gives, it takes the curve you asked for, and nothing splits. Two things are true at the same time — it moves, and it survives moving — and that pair is the whole word. Point the same pressing hand at a person and you get the second sense without changing the picture at all.
可以想成把一條皮革拿在手裡壓。它讓步了，順著你給的弧度彎過去，而且沒有裂。兩件事同時成立——動得了，也壞不了——這一對大概就是整個字。把同一隻施力的手改成對著一個人，第二個意思就出來了，畫面完全不用換。
From the word’s history
From Middle French, from Old French ploiable, from ploiier, to fold; by surface analysis ply plus -able.
經中古法文而來，源頭是古法文 ploiable，動詞 ploiier 的意思是「摺」。從表面拆開就是 ply 加上 -able，也就是「摺得起來的」。
packet Wiktionary etymology_text for pliable (kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:915606422:14758)
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