always / to assemble / gather / total / overall / head / chief / general / in every case
总
=
丷
+
口
+
心
:
Mnemonic symbol: to go all in during a poker game.
总
=
丷
+
口
+
心
:
Zapatista Zebra and the mean crocodile are playing poker inside of the engine. The crocodile decided to go all in with his mandarin, and Zapatista Zebra has no choice but to set his heart.
general; overall / to sum up / in every case; always; invariably / anyway; after all; eventually; sooner or later / surely / (after a person's name) abbr. for 總經理|总经理[zong3 jing1 li3] or 總編|总编[zong3 bian1] etc
stick / pole / lever / classifier for long objects such as guns
杆
=
干
+
木
:
Guy Fawkes (g) is putting up Christmas decorations in the anthill (an3). He is using a stick (杆) to put dried fruits (干) on top of the Christmas tree (木).
to compete / competition / match / to surpass / better than / superior to / to excel
赛
=
宀
+
井
+
丌
+
贝
:
Socrates (s) and the crab (贝) are competing in a competition (赛) in the airplane's bathroom (ai4). The competition is about stacking wells (井) as high as possible. After time's up, Socrates is the clear winner. He climbs the winner's pedestal (丌) and receives a honorary PhD and thus a graduation cap (宀).