Memory method:
1.peel = & gtp+eel = & gt； Eel skin = "skin eel.
2.reel = & gtr+eel = & gt； Because eels are snake-shaped fish, and snakes are long in shape and have the characteristics of entanglement.
English etymology:
Old English? L "eel ",from primitive Germanic *? Laz (cognates: ancient Frisian -el, medieval Dutch ael, Dutch aal, ancient Saxon and ancient Highland German al, German Aal, ancient Norwegian all), with unknown origin, does not have some cognates outside Germanic. At least from 1520s, it is symbolically used for slippery.