Mnemonic comic for 下
Translation
Mnemonic
Mnemonic symbol: from the up/down logic, and a little bit the shape of the character, a ladder.
Xi Shi (xi) is on a retreat in the ashram. Using a voodoo staff (卜), she divined that next (下) week she'll have to play the flute (一) sixteen hours per day. Because she hates playing the flute, she climbs over the ashram's bathroom (a4) wall using a ladder (下) to escape.
下 character breakdown
one / single / a (article) / as soon as / entire; whole; all; throughout / "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1) / also pr. [yao1] for greater clarity when spelling out numbers digit by digit
Maud Younger (y) forgot her keys to the space station (Ø1), all she brought outside was her flute (一). She has no choice but to crash the door with the giant flute.
(bound form) to divine / to forecast or estimate / (of a place to live etc) to choose
卜
=
丨
+
丶
:
Mnemonic symbol from "to divine" and the shape of the character: a voodoo staff.
Bruno Bear (bu-) tries to divine (卜) the future in the space station's living room (Ø3). He places a petal (丶) in the middle of the room as an offering and starts a magic ritual with his voodoo staff (卜). The staff transforms the petal into a dinosaur bone (丨). Bruno divines that the staff was trying to tell him that all things are mortal and must come to an end.
Bruno Bear (bu-) tries to divine (卜) the future in the space station's living room (Ø3). He places a petal (丶) in the middle of the room as an offering and starts a magic ritual with his voodoo staff (卜). The staff transforms the petal into a dinosaur bone (丨). Bruno divines that the staff was trying to tell him that all things are mortal and must come to an end.
Characters with 下 as component
to scare / to intimidate / to threaten / (interjection showing disapproval) tut-tut / (interjection showing astonishment)
to be (followed by substantives only) / correct; right; true / (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well / (adverb for emphatic assertion)
是
=
旦
+
龰
:
Mnemonic symbol: a skull, from "to be or not to be".
Sherlock Holmes (sh) starts his day in the space station's bathroom (Ø4) with a mug of coffee (旦). Holding a skull (mnemonic symbol for 是) in his hands, he asks himself "to be, or not to be" (是). He wonders if he can make the skull come back to life using lots of coffee, and injects coffee from his mug into the skull using a syringe (龰).
Sherlock Holmes (sh) starts his day in the space station's bathroom (Ø4) with a mug of coffee (旦). Holding a skull (mnemonic symbol for 是) in his hands, he asks himself "to be, or not to be" (是). He wonders if he can make the skull come back to life using lots of coffee, and injects coffee from his mug into the skull using a syringe (龰).
是
=
日
+
下
+
人
:
Mnemonic symbol: a skull, from "to be or not to be".
Sherlock Holmes (sh) watches the Neanderthal Man (人) trying to climb to the sun (日) on a ladder (下) in the space station's bathroom (Ø4). Sherlock is afraid that he'll open the window, so he puts on a big skull (是) and scares him off.
Sherlock Holmes (sh) watches the Neanderthal Man (人) trying to climb to the sun (日) on a ladder (下) in the space station's bathroom (Ø4). Sherlock is afraid that he'll open the window, so he puts on a big skull (是) and scares him off.
shrimp / prawn
虾
=
虫
+
下
:
In order to be admitted to the ashram Xi Shi (xi) has to complete a trial in front of it (a1). She has to survive a sea of shrimp (虾) only with the help of a ladder (下) on which she can save herself from the shrimp army. To not make it too easy for her though there's also an army of mosquitoes (虫) harassing her.
to beg for alms / beggar
丐
=
㇉
+
下
:
Guy Fawkes (g) finds a beggar (丐) in the airplane's bathroom (ai4). To attract more attention the beggar is begging for alms (丐) while balancing on the top of a ladder (下). Guy Fawkes throws him a coin, but promptly the beggar is hit by a lightning bolt (㇉) because of his high elevation and the metal coin in his hand.
variant of 丐[gai4]
匃
=
亾
+
勹
:
Mnemonic symbol: a beggar from ancient Egypt. The beggar from ancient Egypt (匃) found work as an elephant (勹) rider. He rides his elephant through the airplane's bathroom (ai4) while the elephant carries a sarcophagus (亾) with his trunk. He doesn't know that Guy Fawkes (g) secretly sneaked into the sarcophagus to hitch a ride.
Words with 下
not to be repeated / not to be taken as a precedent / just this once
lit. If the upper beam is not straight, the lower beam will be crooked (idiom); fig. subordinates imitate their superiors' vices
to die / future incarnation / next life / to be born / to come into the world / future generation
to work in the fields (esp. young school-leavers) / forced agricultural experience for city intellectuals
to be unable to extricate oneself gracefully / to be put on the spot / to be embarrassed
lit. there is heaven above, and there is 蘇杭|苏杭[Su1 Hang2] below (idiom) / fig. the beauty and affluence of Suzhou and Hangzhou is comparable with heaven
The higher ups have policies while the lower downs have their own ways of getting around them. (idiom)
lit. above are the elderly, below are the young (idiom) / fig. to have to take care of both one's aging parents and one's children / sandwich generation