Pinyin "lan4"

In MandarinBanana's mnemonic system, the Pinyin syllable "lan4" is split up into two parts: "l" and "an4". You can visit the Pinyin index to see how other Pinyin syllables are split up into initials and finals.

Mnemonics for Pinyin initial "l"

L is for Sir Lancelot.

Mnemonics for Pinyin final "an4"

In the anthill's bathroom.

Characters pronounced lan4

烂
爛
làn = l + an4
soft; mushy / well-cooked and soft / to rot; to decompose / rotten / worn out / chaotic; messy / utterly; thoroughly / crappy; bad
烂 = 兰 + 火 : Sir Lancelot (l) is taking a bath in the anthill's bathroom (an4). The bathtub is sitting on a fire (火), so the water is really hot. Sir Lancelot has added a few orchids (兰) to the bath, but because the water is so warm, they're all mushy and rotten (烂).
滥
濫
làn = l + an4
overflowing / excessive / indiscriminate
滥 = 氵 + 监 : Sir Lancelot (l) wants to stock up on water, and he plans to store it in the anthill's bathroom (an4). He keeps on pouring water bottles (氵) in a cage (监), but the cage just overflows (滥). As the water flows out of the cage Lancelot gets even more enraged and pours more and more water.
灠
làn = l + an4
variant of 濫|滥[lan4]
燗
làn = l + an4
old variant of 爛|烂[lan4]
爤
làn = l + an4
old variant of 爛|烂[lan4]