mountain / hill / anything that resembles a mountain / CL:座[zuo4] / bundled straw in which silkworms spin cocoons / gable
山
=
丨
+
凵
:
Mnemonic symbol: 山 looks like the tip of a fork. Sherlock Holmes (sh) is climbing a mountain (山) in front of the anthill (an1). He uses a dinosaur bone (〡) as walking stick, and to have better grip he attached a fork (山) to its tip. Unfortunately he accidentally sticks the fork into a receptacle (凵) on the ground of the mountain and gets shocked.
once / already / ever (in the past) / former / previously / (past tense marker used before verb or clause)
曾
=
丷
+
囗
+
⺌
+
曰
:
Mnemonic symbol: I think 曾 just looks like a firefly, with the head (with two feelers) at the top and the glowing body at the bottom.
The firefly is selling aloe vera out of a big wooden box in the kitchen of the Erechtheion. With a big microphone it is advertising the aloe. As it sees a mean crocodile and the King of Chu starting a big fight for the aloe, the firefly is very excited and states that it has never ever seen something like this before.