tight / strict / close at hand / near / urgent / tense / hard up / short of money / to tighten
紧
=
収
+
糸
:
In the encampment Joan of Arc is very tense to finally open her present. It is a radio receiver which has been tightly packed in fine silk. Finally when she's finally allowed she urgently opens the package.
to open up / to spread / sheet of paper / classifier for flat objects, sheet / classifier for votes
张
=
弓
+
长
:
Mnemonic symbol: a spreadsheet. James II of England (zh) practices his archery skills in front of the anglepod (ang1). Riding on a longboard (长) he shoots arrows using his composite bow (弓) trying to hit a spreadsheet (张).
slow / unhurried / sluggish / gradual / not tense / relaxed / to postpone / to defer / to stall / to stave off / to revive / to recuperate
缓
=
爰
+
纟
:
Helga Horse (hu) and the silk worm (纟) opened a business which is doing really bad. They don't stress things and talk about it in the anthill (an3). In a relaxed (缓) atmosphere and very unhurriedly (缓) they explain each other via sophisticated flow charts (爰) how they are going to make their start-up work.
and / together with / with / sum / union / peace / harmony / Taiwan pr. [han4] when it means "and" or "with"
和
=
口
+
禾
:
Hamlet found a way for world peace: He wants to distribute cereals and mandarins all over the world, starting just inside the elevator's kitchen.
(joining two nouns) and; together with; with (Taiwan pr. [han4]) / (math.) sum / to make peace / (sports) to draw; to tie / (bound form) harmonious / (bound form) Japan; Japanese