宀
=
丶
+
冖
:
Mnemonic symbol: the strokes of this character look like a graduation cap (宀).
Marilyn Monroe (mi-) wants to cook in the anthill's kitchen (an2) but she's afraid of the ants. That's why she builds a bunker: she uses a saucepan lid (冖) as the base, constructs pillars out of petals (丶) and uses a graduation cap (宀) as the roof.
是
=
旦
+
龰
:
Mnemonic symbol: a skull, from "to be or not to be".
Sherlock Holmes (sh) starts his day in the space station's bathroom (Ø4) with a mug of coffee (旦). Holding a skull (mnemonic symbol for 是) in his hands, he asks himself "to be, or not to be" (是). He wonders if he can make the skull come back to life using lots of coffee, and injects coffee from his mug into the skull using a syringe (龰).
是
=
日
+
下
+
人
:
Mnemonic symbol: a skull, from "to be or not to be".
Sherlock Holmes (sh) watches the Neanderthal Man (人) trying to climb to the sun (日) on a ladder (下) in the space station's bathroom (Ø4). Sherlock is afraid that he'll open the window, so he puts on a big skull (是) and scares him off.