真的有刺：會扎人的東西
這一組站在畫面的「表面」這一邊：東西身上有刺，或至少粗到會扎人。
adjective · B2
Covered with a lot of thin sharp points, like a cactus, a thistle or a hedgehog, so that touching it pricks your skin.
多刺的
核心畫面
One picture runs under all of this: a surface covered with many small sharp points, and a hand reaching out to it without thinking. Two things always follow. The points are small and there are a lot of them, so nothing here is a deep wound — it is a sting. And the sting comes back at whoever touched, which means the word is always about contact. Look at the surface and you get the . Look at the hand and you get the skin. Move the whole picture onto a person and you get the one who snaps when you say the wrong thing; move it onto a topic and you get the question nobody wants to raise.
所有用法底下可以想成同一個畫面：一個表面長滿很多細小的尖刺，而有一隻手沒多想就伸了過去。接著一定會發生兩件事。刺很小…更多收起
所有用法底下可以想成同一個畫面：一個表面長滿很多細小的尖刺，而有一隻手沒多想就伸了過去。接著一定會發生兩件事。刺很小、數量很多，所以這裡從來不是重傷，是被扎一下的刺痛。而且那一下會回到伸手的人身上，也就是說這個字永遠跟「碰到」有關。看那個表面，就得到仙人掌。看那隻手，就得到刺刺的皮膚。把整個畫面搬到人身上，就得到那個你講錯一句就翻臉的人。搬到話題上，就得到那個沒人想先開口的問題。From the word’s history
The supplied Wiktionary entry gives the form as prickle + -y, that is, having prickles. The ending -y works the same way in dirty and hairy: it says the thing has plenty of what the first part names. So the literal reading is covered in prickles, which is exactly the first picture, and everything else is that picture used somewhere new.
資料裡的字源說明寫得很單純：prickle（刺）加上字尾 -y。-y 的作用和 dirty、hairy 裡一樣，表示「帶著很多那個東西」。所以字面上就是「滿是刺的」，正好就是第一個畫面。後面每一個意思，都可以看成把這個畫面放到新的地方去用。
Wiktionary entries for prickly supplied in this evidence packet (etymology_text: From prickle + -y; source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:1140448570:12888)
Three branches
被扎的那一面：皮膚的感覺
這一組站在畫面的「手」這一邊：同一次接觸，但說的是被扎到的人有什麼感覺。
adjective · C1
If your skin feels prickly, it stings a little, as if many tiny points were pressing into it — often from heat, sweat, sunburn, cold, or a sudden shock.
刺刺的、發麻刺痛
刺長到人和話題上：一碰就扎
把整個畫面搬離皮膚：你很平常地碰一下，扎回來的不是刺，是脾氣或爭吵。
adjective · C1
Someone who is prickly gets annoyed or offended very easily, so other people choose their words carefully around that person.
一碰就炸的、易怒難相處