失

to lose / to miss / to fail

失 = 𠂉 + 大 : Sherlock (sh) locked himself out of the space station (Ø1)! He lost (失) his key (𠂉)! After he was floating in front of the space station for an eternity, a robot (大) came by with a lost+found box (失) which contained his lost key.

失 character breakdown

失
- 丿
- 大
  - 一
  - 人
    - 丿
    - ㇏
- 夫
  - 一
  - 二
    - 一
  - 人
    - 丿
    - ㇏
  - 大
    - 一
    - 人
      - 丿
      - ㇏
- 𠂉
  - 一
  - 丿

丿

piě = pi + e3

radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 4) / see 撇[pie3]

Pocahontas (pi-) is eating a banana (丿) in the elevator's living room (-e3).

大

dài = d + ai4

see 大夫[dai4 fu5]

夫

fu̅ = fu + Ø1

husband / man / manual worker / conscripted laborer (old)

夫 = 二 + 人 : Mnemonic symbol: a construction worker

夫 = 二 + 人 : In front of the space station, Neanderthal Man and a construction worker are busy exchanging a broken capacitor. When Frieda Fox floats by they whistle at her because they think she's hot, but Frieda is just annoyed.

夫

fú = fu + Ø2

(classical) this, that / he, she, they / (exclamatory final particle) / (initial particle, introduces an opinion)

𠂉

Character component without intrinsic meaning

𠂉 = 丿 + 一 : Mnemonic symbol: 𠂉 looks like a key.

Imagine a banana you can't open without putting a key into each of the holes of a flute which is painted on its peel.

大

dà = d + a4

big; large; great / older (than another person) / eldest (as in 大姐[da4 jie3]) / greatly; freely; fully / (dialect) father / (dialect) uncle (father's brother)

大 = 一 + 人 : The big (大), huge (大) robot (mnemonic symbol for 大) is working out in the ashram's bathroom (a4). He's lifting a flute (一) to which Don Quixote (d) and Neanderthal man (人) are clinging.

Characters with 失 as component

秩

zhì = zh + Ø4

order / orderliness / (classifier) ten years

秩 = 失 + 禾 : James II of England (zh) found a bowl of cereals (禾) in the space station's bathroom (Ø4). To put everything in order (秩), he pours the bowl into the next lost+found box (失).

迭

dié = di + e2

alternately / repeatedly

迭 = 辶 + 失 : Dorothy Gale (di) stores all her gladiator sandals (辶) in a lost and found box (失) in the elevator's kitchen (e2). She can't decide which ones to wear and so repeatedly (迭) takes out, tries on and puts back in different pairs of sandals.

跌

die̅ = di + e1

to fall / to tumble / to trip / (of prices etc) to drop / Taiwan pr. [die2]

跌 = ⻊ + 失 : In front of the elevator (e1) Dorothy Gale (di) tumbles (跌) over a cowboy boot (⻊) and falls (跌) into a lost+found box (失).

铁

鐵

tiě = ti + e3

iron (metal) / arms / weapons / hard / strong / violent / unshakeable / determined / close / tight (slang)

铁 = 失 + 钅 : Mother Teresa (ti) is looking for a new iron weapon (铁) to defend herself. So far she was using a golden harpoon (钅), but the gold is just too soft. Inside of the elevator (e3) she is searching a lost+found box with her golden harpoon for an iron weapon (铁).

铁

鐵

tiě = ti + e3

surname Tie