The lump that nothing dents — that is 石

Where the picture shows up in 石

1. 1

   the hard lump in the road

   路上有一块大石头。

   lùshang yǒu yí kuài dà shítou

   There's a big stone in the road.

   A lump in the middle of the road that does not budge when you shove it with your foot

   块 is the measure word for lumps and chunks.

2. 2

   oil drawn from between stones

   石油又涨价了。

   shíyóu yòu zhǎngjià le

   Petrol has gone up again.

   A hole drilled through hard rock and black oil surging up out of it

   石油 is literally stone oil — you can watch the word being built.

3. 3

   too hard for teeth

   这个面包太硬了。

   zhège miànbāo tài yìng le

   This bread is way too hard.

   Teeth skidding off a loaf, leaving only a sore jaw

   The left half of 硬 is 石.

4. 4

   clay baked stone-hard

   再给我一个碗。

   zài gěi wǒ yí ge wǎn

   Could I get one more bowl?

   Shaped clay coming out of the fire as hard as stone

   碗 also carries 石 on the left.

5. 5

   hard things going to pieces

   杯子掉地上碎了。

   bēizi diào dìshang suì le

   The cup fell on the floor and shattered.

   A hard cup meeting the floor and scattering into dozens of pieces

   碎 is to break into fragments — only hard things break this way.