contrary / in reverse / inside out or upside down / to reverse / to return / to oppose / opposite / against / anti- / to rebel / to use analogy / instead / abbr. for 反切[fan3 qie4] phonetic system
反
=
⺁
+
又
:
A protester (mnemonic symbol for 反) makes a racket in the anthill's living room (an3). He's got a huge banana tree (⺁) with him and wants to protest against the exploitation of banana farm workers. Frankenstein's Monster (f) is annoyed by him and punches him with a boxing glove (又).
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).
剂
=
刂
+
齐
:
Joan of Arc (ji) is preparing a dose (剂) of her medicine in the space station's bathroom (Ø4). Usually she uses a gong as a nice and flat surface to prepare her medicine, but today only the drum is ready (齐). She distributes her medicine evenly and nicely on the flat surface using a kitchen knife (刂).