古
=
十
+
口
:
Mnemonic symbol: at least on German maps, this character actually resembles a cloister.
Oh no! Gitta Giraffe (gu) found that the golden cross (十) broke off of the cloister (古) in the space station's living room (Ø3)! She skewers a mandarin (口) on top of the cloister so that she can skewer the broken off cross back on to fix it.
now / the present time / current / contemporary / this (day, year etc)
今
=
亽
+
㇇
:
A rip off calendar showing today's date: 今
今
=
亽
+
㇇
:
Joan of Arc has changed into half-duck half-human being and lives in a tipi in front of the encampment. With her beak, she shows a rip off calender with the date of Armageddon: today.
within / among / in / middle / center / while (doing sth) / during / (dialect) OK / all right
中
=
丨
+
口
:
Mnemonic symbol: a dart board, because you always try to hit the center.
Julian Giant Squid (zhu-) is throwing dinosaur bones (丨) as darts on a dart board in front of the engine ((e)ng1). To make it a bit more difficult he's throwing mandarins (口) into the air as well and skewers them up right in the center (中 is a mandarin skewered on a dinosaur bone) in mid flight with the dinosaur bones. He's still able to consistently hit the center (中) of the dart board.
外
=
夕
+
卜
:
There's a hole in the wall of the airplane's bathroom (ai4), and from outside (外), a bat (夕) wants to enter. Willy Walrus (w) is very afraid of bats, so he does his best to hinder the bat from entering with a voodoo staff (卜).