You do bring back old memories!

We didn't do things by analogy -- we stuck "rentrer" in explicitly and had "Mrs VanDerTramp" !

And speaking of mnemonics that weren't particularly memorable, that same Mr Hills (of "Dr Grime" fame references provided upon request) also offered for the order of classification "KPC of GSV", meaning

Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species, Variety, [and always pronounced "VA-riety"].

Amazingly nonsensical, but it worked. I suppose having only two things to remember was more effective than eight.