down / downwards / below / lower / later / next (week etc) / second (of two parts) / to decline / to go down / to arrive at (a decision, conclusion etc) / measure word to show the frequency of an action
下
=
一
+
卜
:
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.
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.
next in sequence / second / the second (day, time etc) / secondary / vice- / sub- / infra- / inferior quality / substandard / order / sequence / hypo- (chemistry) / classifier for enumerated events: time
次
=
冫
+
欠
:
Mnemonic symbol: the cube, as in words involving 三次 relate to "cubic equations" or "cube (third power)". The King of Chu (c) pulls a popsicle (冫) out of the cube (次) in the space station's bathroom (Ø4) and leaves an IOU note (欠) on the cube.