馬 (うま) is not a common shorthand for "horse racing" (2), use 競馬 instead.

the kanji kinda looks like a horse if you think about it

Uma Thurman liked horses

Ur ma likes horses

Kind of like Miami, which is in the southern US.

Everyone (mina) and me (mi) live in the south

みなみ-ter sounds like millimeter, so:
Move it a couple みなみters south (imagine you're trying to hang a TV on a wall and your friend is giving you instructions on where to put it)

Geese fly 南/みなみ in the winter, with the 見込み/みこみ to stay alive.

When read as 「いちにち」, it means "one day"; when read as「ついたち」, it means "first day (of the month)".

Nuances between 日ごと, 一日, 毎日:

彼は一日ごと(に)走る距離を長くしている。⇒毎日に近いですが、少しずつ増えていく意味が加わります。

彼は毎日走っている。⇒これは説明が要らないでしょう。

彼は一日に3キロ走る。⇒一日という期限、範囲のなかで。

[hinative.com]

In Ottoman Empire, a Pasha was a high ranking member that would travel in a horse carrige.
Pasha > Basha

DIG a HOLE (ほる).

Horu sounds like hollow

Because the iron man was sobbing {さび}, his cheeks became rusty.

Pitch accent: け＼ん.

Both the けん and つるぎ reading of 剣 refer to the same thing: a sword.

Here’s a time machine, YOU (ゆ) RIDE (らい) it back to the origin of history!

(Ke)reful (wa)s (shii) as she approached the PRECIPITIOUS/RUGGED cliff.

囲む (かこむ):
Describes things being around something / surrounding it.
The verb itself does not imply purpose.

囲う (かこう):
Implies enclosing something to keep, protect, or control what is inside.
Usually suggests a boundary or contained space.

You can think of them like this:
囲む = surround (very common)
囲う = enclose / keep / maintain control (more specific)

There are situations where both can work:
庭を塀で囲む
庭を塀で囲う

Native speakers use 囲む much more often, though. 囲う tends to feel more deliberate or purposeful.

Examples where they aren't interchangeable:
犯人を囲む (natural)
犯人を囲う (unnatural) ❌
愛人を囲う (natural) – that's the "to keep (e.g. a mistress)" sense of 囲う.
愛人を囲む (unnatural) ❌

To SURROUND his (ka)r is a (ko)ld (mu)ve.

This KA/car is surrounded by crowds (crowded = KOMU).

In the past (過去・かこ) people wasn't that mobile so surround them was the best tactic.

No matter where I go, I am always SURROUNDED by this CACOphony

The police jammed all the car coms かこむ and surrounded the criminal

Also written as: 圍む.

王 is a more generic king/ruler, used in dialogue or narrative for simplicity.
国王 is a formal term for the king of a country. Emphasises the state.

Oh, the king has come.

Historically, you’ll see it in samurai dramas, historical contexts, or formal writing:

主君に仕える – "to serve one’s lord"

天皇に仕える – "to serve the Emperor"

神に仕える巫女 – "a shrine maiden who serves the gods"

In modern Japanese, 仕える is still used, but it's limited to formal or respectful contexts like:

会社の重役に長年仕えてきた。
"He has served the company executive for many years."

TWO SKA bands served / worked for L {death note}

When you serve or work for someone (仕える, つかえる), they can use (使える, つかえる) you as needed.

In modern Japanese fantasy, 騎士 is used to mean a knight in a vaguely European medieval sense — typically an armoured warrior associated with horseback combat. The term carries connotations of formality, nobility, and an organised chivalric system rather than just a generic fighter.

現 = present
在 = exist, located in

Also makes up the compound 現在地 meaning ‘current location’ e.g. on a map, the ‘you are here’ point.

げんざい is a synonym for いま but used in more formal occasions like TV weather reports

GEN Z is the generation of NOW, the present.

gengis khan was zapped by an eagle. thats our best knowledge at the present time.
GEN ZA I

It's in GEN'S EYE (げんざい) at THE PRESENT.

GEN Z generation uses AI (artificial intelligence) in the present (now).

Gen used to cry whenever he was sad, but he learned to control his emotions. *Now*, GEN SIGHs

At the present moment, I am looking into Gen's eye(s). Beautiful.

Colloq: natural airhead
(prone to silly mistakes), abbrev of 天然ボケ;

It took me (ten) years(nen) to understand her true NATURE.

This clerk is sometimes a natural airhead.
--> This 店員/てんいん is sometimes a てんねん

Nature = the sort of things 然 given from the sky 天 (heaven/god)

Terrain is to the Earth what a cheek (ちけい) is to a face

立つ/たつ: To be in an upright position
建つ/たつ: To be built
経つ/たつ: To pass/elapse (of time)
立てる/たてる: To place something upright
立ち上がる/たちあがる: To stand up (the physical movement of rising)

You build (たてる) a building (たてもの)

„our tent is in tatters!“ (たて), she exclaimed and was close to tears, So we decided to *build* a better construction!

To construct a building 建てる is to stand it up 立てる.

"Tateru" sounds like "tater tots."

Imagine you’re building a house, but instead of bricks, you’re stacking "tater tots" to construct the walls! As you build higher and higher, you’re using "tater tots" to build (建てる) your masterpiece.

When you stand up or erect (立てる) a building, you build it (建てる). (Both are read as, たてる.)

Tataru from FFXIV, whose name sounds similar to this word, is a crafter. Crafting is pretty synonymous with building and construction!

The て-form of this verb is funny to me: たてて. It's the sound you hear when people are driling and building on the streets (tatete tatete tatete)

Constructivism and constructionism are methods of being taught (たてる)

I'll meet my chica (girl) at an underground party!

ちか / 地下 is the first half of ちかてつ / 地下鉄 (subway), which is UNDERGROUND

or:

CHICA (the scary chicken in Five Nights at Freddy’s) probably hangs out in the WORLD OF THE DEAD

Coalminers are known to cough (咳/せき) a ton (たん) from working around coal.

If you are covered in coal powder after you have sit down somewhere your seat (seki) will have a tan

Pitch: しゅ /うじん
Long vowel —> you’ll be here for a long time!

vs husband しゅ \ じん (主人)

My husband (ご主人) keeps me as a prisoner (囚人).

A bunch of prisoners (囚人) brewing shoe gin because they're tired of toilet wine. shoe gin → しゅうじん
Also, 囚 itself already kind of looks like a person 人 trapped inside a box :)

The RAILROAD is an iron(tetsu) road(dou).

The railway helps (tetsudau) you move between cities