灰

灰 hui1 grey, ash, dust, discouraged, dejected. It’s literally a picture of a hand over the ashes of a fire火…
Encircled India

Encircled India

包围 bao1wei2 to encircle赢过 ying2guo4 to win over面临 mian4lin2 facing地区孤立 di4qu1 regional gu1li4 isolation关系恶化 guan1xi5 relationship e4hua4 deteriorates      潜艇协议…
茕茕孑立

茕茕孑立

茕茕孑立 standing alone in desolation 茕qiong2 solitary, it’s the image of a swift hunting bird 卂xun4 resting alone beneath a…
之

 之Zhī of乏fá short of, tired眨zhǎ blink (because eyes which are tired or short of water blink)
扁

扁door on top. 户  Doors have registry numbers on them that’s the dot 户 is a picture of a household…
蜻蜓

蜻蜓

蜻蜓 qing1ting2 dragonfly (auspicious insect) 蜻 green-blue, irridescent 青qing1 + insect 虫chong2蜓ting2 courtly+insect  廷ting2 palace courtyard  Courtly irridescent insect.  
寄ji4

寄ji4

寄ji4  a Big大 guy who Can可 stand up while riding a horse; he’s arrived under a roof 宀  someone ENTRUSTED him…
重复重复再重复  

重复重复再重复  

 释 dispel explain let go release. Etymology: rice+sort彻底 che di thorough complete彻penetrate, pervade, cut through, destroy底foundation, ground, low 察cha比值 ratio bi3zhi2: comparison+upright够…
Heirs, Hearse, T.

Heirs, Hearse, T.

靠谱 kao4pu3 reliable depend+chart= COUNT ON someone/something RELIABLEtop part of 靠 is 告 top of 告 is 牛 bottom is 口.When you 告TELL,ADMONISH…
道歉

道歉

 道歉 dao qian forgive meTwinned sheaves of grain 禾 grasped by a hand 手 on the right form 兼 which…
断魂

断魂

断魂 妻子在两年前去世了,他每每思之断魂。   魂魄 hun2po4 灵魂 ling2hun2   断魂 separated + soul 
精诚所至金石为开

精诚所至金石为开

精诚所至,金石为开  jing1 cheng2 suo3 zhi4 jin1shi2wei4kai1 精 spirit: clear distilate of material object, whether literal or metaphoric. JING1 诚 honest 精诚=sincerity The…
整敕支

整敕支

整 zheng3 upright in good order zheng – phonetic below is also semantic semantic above. 敕 chi4 imperial orders chi…
悲哀

悲哀

悲哀 bei1ai1 – to mourn碍 ai4 – to hinder 非not+ heart = 悲sad bei1 fei1+xin1=bei1 哀 picture of Clothing 衣 yi hanging from a…
又攵夂

又攵夂

又攵夂 又 hand 攵 hand hammer. nasty! 夂 stomping foot 及 runaway slave getting captured. 廴 usually this one is…
OSA=WASP

OSA=WASP

In the slavic languages “osa” means a stinging insect thus e.g. a wasp. 保守秘密 lit to guard and preserve a secret…
息

意思 yi4si idea 川流不息 chuan1liu2bu4xi1 the river flows endlessly 思 yi4 & 息 xi4 illustrate a common problem of Chinese characters: similarity.…
随

  随时 any time随地 any place随便 like you please (lit. as convenient=memory hook here)   Phonetic clue: Sui-dynasty 隋 随…
凑巧 gather, collect, by chance+opportune, coincidence

凑巧 gather, collect, by chance+opportune, coincidence

刺 ci4 thorn刺耳 ci4er3 horrible screeching penetrating sound橡皮擦 xiang4pi2ca1 eraser手册 shou3ce4  handbook彩虹 cai2hong4 rainbow草 cao3 grass凑巧 cou4qiao3 coincidence https://hanziyuan.net/#%E5%87%91 https://hanziyuan.net/#%F0%A1%97%97 餐桌 can1zhou1 dinner table桌子 zhou1zi table汗涔涔 han4cen2cen2 sweating profusely 仓库cang1ku4…
尘 尖

尘 尖

尘 尖This, I think, is another example where associated characters also form a phonetic marker 红尘 hong chen common dust i.e. everyman,…
巩 SOLID

巩 SOLID

 巩 this says gong3 and means “secure, solid”. EVERY凡ORDINARY +工TOOL is =巩SOLID, SECURE 建筑 the right character says “zhu”; it’s phonetic…
怅惘

怅惘

怅惘chang4wang3distracted; listless 忏悔chan4 hui3confess, repent; confession; penance; penitence; shrift【法】 penitence; shrift 惆怅[chou2 chang4]melancholy / depression 阐明chan3 ming2clarifyexplain clearly 踌躇chou2 chu2(v)…
愉快

愉快

 Though I knew all these colocations well before it never occurred to me there are a lot of ways to…