Henshall says that in 酷 (KOKU, hido(i): cruel, atrocious, unjust, severe), the “saké” radical 酉 means “wine jar” or “alcohol.” Meanwhile, 告 is “to proclaim,” acting here to express “strong” and maybe adding connotations of “reeking,” because 告 involves the idea of something’s emerging from the mouth. With 酷 we therefore have “strong alcohol,” which leads to “strong, intense, astringent” in general, with “cruel, harsh” being an associated meaning. I’ve heard that alcohol can have deleterious effects, but this is a new interpretation of that idea!
