古
=
十
+
口
:
Mnemonic symbol: at least on German maps, this character actually resembles a cloister.
Oh no! Gitta Giraffe (gu) found that the golden cross (十) broke off of the cloister (古) in the space station's living room (Ø3)! She skewers a mandarin (口) on top of the cloister so that she can skewer the broken off cross back on to fix it.
十
=
一
+
丨
:
Mnemonic symbol: a holy cross. Sherlock Holmes (sh-) is investigating a very strange thing he found in the kitchen of the space station (-2): A big pyramid made of ten (十) crosses (十), which are in turn made out of flutes (一) and dinosaur bones (丨).
happening / instance / reason / cause / intentional / former / old / friend / therefore / hence / (of people) to die, dead
故
=
古
+
攵
:
Mnemonic symbol: This character only appears in 做, so we don't need a strong mnemonic symbol. We should be able to refer to 故 when we think of 故事 or 故意. Because it fits nicely to its components, I'll think of it as in the meaning of 故墓, an old grave.
故
=
古
+
攵
:
There is an ancient cloister in the space station's bathroom, and Gitta Giraffe once heard a story from her fellow astronauts that there's an old tomb inside with lots of treasure. One day she can't hold herself back anymore and deliberately breaks the cloister open using a sledgehammer.
克
=
儿
+
古
:
Karl Marx and Sun Wukong both tried to change the world. After they both failed, they went crazy, and now they have to retreat into a cloister in the elevator's bathroom wearing straitjackets.
胡
=
古
+
月
:
Helga Horse (hu) visits the old and wise moon (月) in the space station's kitchen (Ø2). She wants to join his cloister (古), but the moon rejects and says that first she has to get a very long Confucius style mustache (胡) such as his own.
舍
=
人
+
舌
:
Mnemonic symbol: a pawn who is abandoned to save the king.
Neanderthal Man (人) is so hungry that he opens his mouth, sticks out his tongue (舌) and is about to devour Sherlock Holmes (sh) in the elevator (e3), but Sherlock Holmes acts quickly enough to throw a pawn (舍) onto Neanderthal Man's tongue so that he munches the pawn instead.
medieval / Middle Ages / Chinese middle antiquity, 3rd to 9th centuries, including Sui and Tang Dynasties / Middle (of a language, e.g. Middle English) / used / second-hand