只
=
八
+
口
:
Mnemonic symbol: this character looks like something (a head?) on two legs. I'll just represent it by a cuttlefish (只). James II of England (zh) has been in the space station (Ø3) as the only (只) one for too long and went mad. He thinks he's holding a mandarin (口), but he's just about to bite into merely (只) an eight ball (八). On the top of his head is a cuttlefish (只) he mistook for a hat.
to limit / to restrict / (bound form) limit / bound
限
=
艮
+
阝
:
Marie Curie (xi) caught the pope (阝) munching chewing gum (艮) in the anthill's bathroom (an4). Marie hates it when someone puts their chewing gum just anywhere in the room, so she marks a confined space with red and white tape and sends the pope to stay within the limits (限) while he is chewing.
(of time or place) in; at; on / (indicating any indirect relation) to; toward; vis-à-vis; with regard to; for / (indicating a source) from; out of / (used in comparison) than / (used in the passive voice) by
于
=
亅
+
二
:
Mnemonic symbol: prepositions (in, at, on, to, ...) are what glue the sentence together. Honey is as sticky as glue, so I'll represent 于 by a honey jar.
Yu the Great (于) was assigned to repair the electronics of the space station's kitchen (Ø2), but instead he was snacking honey from a honey jar (于). Unfortunately his capacitor (二) got stuck in the honey and now he has to use a crowbar (亅) to lever it out.