之乎者也

lit. 之[zhi1], 乎[hu1], 者[zhe3] and 也[ye3] (four grammatical particles of Classical Chinese) (idiom); fig. archaic expressions

Characters and words in 之乎者也

之

zhi̅ = zh + Ø1

(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de5]) / him / her / it

之 = 丶 + Z : Mnemonic symbol: Sooo sleepy... "zZz" (the character looks like a "Z"). James II of England (zh) fell asleep in front of the space station (Ø1). He sleeps on a big petal leaf (丶), making loud "zZz" (之) sounds.

乎

hu̅ = hu + Ø1

(classical particle similar to 於|于[yu2]) in / at / from / because / than / (classical final particle similar to 嗎|吗[ma5], 吧[ba5], 呢[ne5], expressing question, doubt or astonishment)

乎 = 丿 + 䒑 + 亅 : Helga Horse had too much weed in front of the space station. She thinks that she's eating a banana, but she's just munching on a crowbar. Moreover she's under the impression that she's a chubby and is very astonished.

者

zhě = zh + e3

(after a verb or adjective) one who (is) ... / (after a noun) person involved in ... / -er / -ist / (used after a number or 後|后[hou4] or 前[qian2] to refer to sth mentioned previously) / (used after a term, to mark a pause before defining the term) / (old) (used at the end of a command) / (old) this

者 = ⺹ + 日 : Mnemonic symbol: the sun (日) is wearing a crown (⺹). This reminds me of Louis XIV, le Roi Soleil, the Sun King, which will thus be the mnemonic symbol for 者. The crown (⺹) wearing sun (日), the Sun King (者) and James II of England (zh) are taking part in a writing contest in the elevator's living room (e3) to see who of them is the best author (作者).

也

yě = y + e3

(adverb) also; both ... and ... (before predicates only) / (literary) particle having functions similar to 啊[a5]

也 = ㇆ + 丨 + 乚 : Mnemonic symbol: an excavator. A plow and a shovel are both tools for moving earth, and an excavator can be used to dig up dinosaur bones.

Maud Younger (y) is digging for dinosaur bones (丨) in the elevator's living room (e3). First she used a plow (㇆) to destroy the floor, then she used an excavator (也) to pull out the dinosaur bone surrounded by lots of earth. Finally she uses a shovel (乚) to remove the remaining earth manually so as to not damage the precious dinosaur bone. (The stroke order is ㇆丨乚)

也 = 乜 + 丨 : Maud Younger (y) wants to split a dinosaur bone (丨) in half in the elevator's living room (e3) using the shovel of an excavator (也). She has to squint (乜) her eyes to precisely hit the center point of the dinosaur bone.