to rise / to flourish / to become popular / to start / to encourage / to get up / (often used in the negative) to permit or allow (dialect) / maybe (dialect)
兴
=
⺍
+
一
+
八
:
Mnemonic symbol from the shape of the character: a sea star. Xi shi (xi) and a sea star (⺍) have a strong desire (兴) to smoke catnip (⺍) through a flute (一), so they hide in the engine's bathroom ((e)ng4) to crush the catnip with an eight-ball (八) and smoke it. Shortly afterwards they relax and loose all their excitement (兴) and interest in anything (兴).
县
=
且
+
厶
:
Marie Curie (xi) and the county manager of her home county are manufacturing maps of her home county (县) inside of the anthill's bathroom (an4). The county has a very special form which you can reproduce by smashing a fake nose (厶) with a shelf (且).