unspoken rules (usually ones that codify improper behaviors such as leveraging guanxi to get favorable treatment, or coercing employees for sexual favors)
hidden / secret / latent / to hide / to conceal / to submerge / to dive
潜
=
替
+
氵
:
The Queen of Hearts (qi) emptied her water bottle (氵) and is aiming to replenish (替) it in the anthill's kitchen (an2). Secretly (潜) she fills her water bottle by submerging (潜) it in a big water-filled flower pot.
compass / a rule / regulation / to admonish / to plan / to scheme
规
=
夫
+
见
:
In front of the Eiffel Tower, each year there are more and more surveillance cameras. A construction worker tries to find his way through this maze, but even his compass is of no use. However he's lucky that Gitta Giraffe is there: she's large enough to just see over the cameras to get an overview and tells the worker the way through the maze.
(conjunction used to express contrast with a previous clause) but / then / standard / norm / principle / to imitate / to follow / classifier for written items
则
=
刂
+
贝
:
Mnemonic symbol: 武则天 (Wu Zetian), the only female emperor of China in more than four millennia. It makes sense because for sure she wrote many official statements, for which 则 is the classifier.
则
=
刂
+
贝
:
Just inside the elevator's kitchen, Zorro found a crab. He already has a kitchen knife in his hand and wants to kill and eat the crab, but Wu Zetian quickly writes an official rule that forbids the eating of crabs, much to Zorro's disappointment.
(literary) (conjunction used to express contrast with a previous clause) but; then / (bound form) standard; norm / (bound form) principle / (literary) to imitate; to follow / classifier for written items