吴
=
口
+
天
:
Mnemonic symbol: the water buffalo from Wu.
Willy Walrus (w) enters the space station (Ø2) with a big mandarin (口) in his hands. The water buffalo (吴) sees it and begins to pant heavily, slightly in panic. Fortunately there is an angel (天) around to calm him down and let him know that it's not the sun he's fearing.
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).