Radical 刂

6 strokes

剛

ridge 冈 (676a) + knife 刂 (74a) = barely 刚

刚才 (518) gāngcái a short while ago

[刚刚 gānggāng only just, barely]

Imagine crawling up to the ridge (at dusk, to investigate a suspicious noise), knife at the ready, but there’s barely enough light to see what’s going on. / When you peer over you see the giant and his gang making camp.

岡

outer limits 冂 (160a) + shears 乂 (25a) = ridge 冈

This character means the ridge of a hill.

Don’t confuse it with 风 (“wind”, Character 468).

In the outer limits they use shears to trim the hedges on the ridge of the hill, so that they can peer over into the neighboring kingdom. / [No pronunciation needed]