All three of the following kanji pair up in compounds, which means that one is always the odd man out:
奇 妙 珍
We’ve just seen the following two compounds:
奇妙 (kimyō: strange, queer, odd) odd + of marvelous beauty
珍奇 (chinki: novel, curious, rare, strange) rare + strange
If you eliminate our star attraction, 奇, you can combine the remaining kanji:
珍妙 (chinmyō: queer, odd, fantastic) strange + strange
According to Halpern, each kanji means “strange” in the context of 珍妙, rather than “rare” or “of marvelous beauty.”
How queer, odd, and fantastic this all is!
