to check / to examine / to inspect / to exercise restraint
检
=
佥
+
木
:
Joan of Arc (ji) and General 傅佥 (佥) are spending Christmas Eve inside of the anthill (an3). Next to them there is a Christmas tree (木) at the bar. Joan of Arc and the general again and again check (检) and investigate (检) the tree whether there are already some presents under it.
to examine / to inquire / to observe / to inspect / to look into / obvious / clearly evident
察
=
宀
+
祭
:
Charlie Chaplin (ch) just graduated, but in the ashram's kitchen an undercover agent (察) confronts him. The undercover agent has been investigating (察) Charlie's activities for quite some time and accuses Charlie of having copied most of his thesis. Charlie Chaplin bursts out in tears and admits the charges. He instantly offers to burn his graduation cap (宀) as a sacrifice (祭), hoping to appease the undercover agent.
always / to assemble / gather / total / overall / head / chief / general / in every case
总
=
丷
+
口
+
心
:
Mnemonic symbol: to go all in during a poker game.
总
=
丷
+
口
+
心
:
Zapatista Zebra and the mean crocodile are playing poker inside of the engine. The crocodile decided to go all in with his mandarin, and Zapatista Zebra has no choice but to set his heart.
general; overall / to sum up / in every case; always; invariably / anyway; after all; eventually; sooner or later / surely / (after a person's name) abbr. for 總經理|总经理[zong3 jing1 li3] or 總編|总编[zong3 bian1] etc
长
=
乛
+
丆
+
丿
:
Charlie Chaplin sped into the anglepod riding his longboard, but in the kitchen he doesn't know how to stop. He manages to make a u-turn by hooking him to the pole of a wind wheel with a sickle, but after the turn he can't help but bump into a giant banana.
chief / head / elder / to grow / to develop / to increase / to enhance
长
=
乛
+
丆
+
丿
:
The chief (长) is asking James II of England (zh) for help, because his wind wheel (丆) in the anglepod's living room (丆) isn't performing very well. After finding out that there's too much friction, James II of England uses a sickle (乛) to cut open a banana (丿) and uses the pulp to grease the wind wheel and enhance (长) its performance.