Sample Sentence with 逆鱗に触れる

逆鱗に触 (gekirin ni fu(reru): to infuriate your superior; to provoke imperial wrath)     reverse + (fish) scales + to agitate

This word is no longer used to mean “provoking imperial wrath.” It only means “infuriating your superior,” which could mean anyone from your boss to the president of your country.

彼、ボスの逆鱗に触れ、地方支店に追いやられたよ。
Kare, bosu no gekirin ni fure, chihō shiten ni oiyarareta yo.
He recently had the bad luck to incur his boss’s wrath and got sent to work in the boondocks.

彼 (kare: he)
地方 (chihō: countryside, rural area)
     ground + place

I know this word as “local,” but it also has other meanings.

支店 (shiten: branch office)
     branch + business establishment
追 (o(iyaru): to force into an unpleasant situation)

新聞の漫画は大統領の逆鱗に触れた。
Shinbun no manga wa daitōryō no gekirin ni fureta.
The president was infuriated by a cartoon in the newspaper.

新聞 (shinbun: newspaper)     new + hearsay
漫画 (manga: cartoon)     comic + picture
大統領 (daitōryō: president)
     big + to rule + leader

I didn’t know the second or third kanji here. The second, 統, appears (with a different meaning) in 伝統 (dentō: tradition, to transmit + lineage). And 領 also takes on a different meaning in 領地 (ryōchi: territory, territory + ground) and 領空 (ryōkū: airspace, territory + air).

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