工

work / worker / skill / profession / trade / craft / labor

工 = 二 + 丨 : Mnemonic symbol: a steel beam, since 工 looks like the cross section of a steel beam.

Gitta Giraffe (gu) is working a shift in front of the engine ((e)ng1). Her job is to melt dinosaur bones (丨) so that they can be disposed off easily. To melt the bones, she is shorting a huge capacitor (二) with a steel beam (工) which consequently heats up to a bright glow. Using the glowing hot steel beam she can melt the dinosaur bone easily.

工 character breakdown

工
- 丨
- 二
  - 一

丨

gǔn = gu + (e)n3

radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 2)

Mnemonic symbol: a dinosaur bone. Gitta Giraffe (gu-) found a gorgeous dinosaur bone (丨) in the encampment's living room ((e)n3).

丨

shù = shu + Ø4

vertical stroke (in Chinese characters), referred to as 豎筆|竖笔[shu4 bi3]

Mnemonic symbol: a dinosaur bone. Sheldon Shrimp (shu) found a gorgeous dinosaur bone (丨) in the space station's bathroom (Ø4) and is cracking it open to eat its bone marrow.

二

èr = Ø + Ø4

two / 2 / (Beijing dialect) stupid

二 = 一 : Mnemonic symbol: a capacitor, because the two strokes remind me of the symbol in electrical drawings. Albert Einstein (Ø) is experimenting with a capacitor (二) in the space station's bathroom (Ø4). He finds that it's uncomfortable to discharge a capacitor using two flutes (一).

Characters with 工 as component

寿

壽

shòu = sh + ou4

long life / old age / age / life / birthday / funerary

寿 = 丰 + 寸 : Mnemonic symbol: 寿桃包, a longevity peach bun.

Sherlock Holmes (sh) wants to have a long life, so he decided to just stay in a golden cage (丰) in the outhouse's bathroom (ou4) and has someone bring him longevity peach buns (寿) every now and then. Every time he gets his snack he gives the person the thumbs up (寸).

寿

壽

shòu = sh + ou4

surname Shou

寻

尋

xún = xu + (e)n2

to search / to look for / to seek

寻 = 寸 + 彐 : Mnemonic symbol: a dowsing rod 寻水术. Not to be confused with 丫!

Xu Xian (xu) built a new dowsing rod (寻) which he tests just inside the Erechtheion's entrance ((e)n2). He prepared a huge pig snout (彐) of which he filled one nostril with water and one with wine. To his satisfaction, the dowsing rod reacts only to the wine, so he thumbs up (寸) satisfied. He'll go and search (寻) more wine with it immediately.

贡

貢

gòng = gu + (e)ng4

surname Gong

贡 = 工 + 贝 : Gitta Giraffe (gu) is offering a tribute (贡) to her god in the engine's bathroom ((e)ng4). The tribute is a crab (贝) at the high tip of a steel beam (工) which has been rammed into the ground.

贡

貢

gòng = gu + (e)ng4

to offer tribute / tribute / gifts

项

項

xiàng = xi + ang4

back of neck / item / thing / term (in a mathematical formula) / sum (of money) / classifier for principles, items, clauses, tasks, research projects etc

项 = 工 + 页 : Mnemonic symbol: a necklace (项). Marie Curie (xi) lost her necklace in the anglepod's bathroom (ang4) and tries to get it out of the toilet again. Marie jotted down some calculations (项) on a sheet of paper (页) and uses a steel beam (工) as a lever to get his necklace out by putting the lever at the exact right position and the sheet of paper on top of the other side of the lever.

项

項

xiàng = xi + ang4

surname Xiang

红

紅

hóng = hu + (e)ng2

surname Hong

氢

氫

qi̅ng = qi + (e)ng1

hydrogen (chemistry)

氢 = 气 + 又 + 工 : The Queen of Hearts (qi) is building a zeppelin in front of the engine ((e)ng1) by attaching a lot of hydrogen (氢) filled balloons (气) to a steel beam (工). In order not to accidentally pop a balloon with her finger nails she uses boxing gloves (又).

汞

銾

gǒng = gu + (e)ng3

variant of 汞[gong3]

汞

gǒng = gu + (e)ng3

mercury (chemistry)

汞

銾

hòng = hu + (e)ng4

sound of a bell

肛