翻筋斗

翻

fa̅n

筋

ji̅n

斗

dǒu

to tumble / to turn a somersault

Characters and words in 翻筋斗

翻

fa̅n = f + an1

to turn over / to flip over / to overturn / to rummage through / to translate / to decode / to double / to climb over or into / to cross

翻 = 番 + 羽 : In front of the anthill (an1), Frankenstein's Monster (f) is flipping over (翻) his tomatoes (番) very, very carefully. In order not to damage them he always turns them over on a few feathers (羽).

翻

飜

fa̅n = f + an1

variant of 翻[fan1]

筋

ji̅n = ji + (e)n1

muscle / tendon / veins visible under the skin / sth resembling tendons or veins (e.g. fiber in a vegetable)

筋 = ⺮ + 肋 : Joan of Arc (ji) trained so much that her muscles (筋) burst her harness in front of the encampment ((e)n1). To cover her ribs (肋) she makes a larger armor out of bamboo sticks (⺮).

筋

ji̅n

斗

dǒu

tumble / somersault

斗

dǒu = d + ou3

abbr. for the Big Dipper constellation 北斗星[Bei3 dou3 xing1]

斗

dǒu = d + ou3

dry measure for grain equal to ten 升[sheng1] or one-tenth of a 石[dan4] / decaliter / peck / cup or dipper shaped object / old variant of 陡[dou3]

斗

鬥

dòu = d + ou4

to fight / to struggle / to condemn / to censure / to contend / to put together / coming together

斗 = ⺀ + 十 : Mnemonic symbol: a 斗牛士 (dou4 niu2 shi4) is a matador, who will represent 斗 when used as component.

The matador (斗) and Don Quixote (d) are fighting (斗) in the outhouse's bathroom (ou4) about who may use the bathroom next. The matador yields a holy cross (十) as a weapon, while Don Quixote (d) wisely chose a blossom (⺀) to cushion the crosses' blows.