This summer I'll have to put together a big project on mnemonics. Hope I remember how to do so.

More to the point, from what I've been reading about mnemonics, often the more ridiculous the association, the more holding power the memorized material will have.

Thirty days, hath September...and all that jazz.

What I'm wondering is: What mnemonic devices do you use that you call upon from time to time? I'll read with great interest here, and will hope to come across some that will stimulate my thinking in this area.

I'll give you a very ridiculous one off the top of my head that will permanently cement the position of one of the US presidents in your mind, if he's not already there firmly ensconced:

Hold out your three centermost fingers on your left hand in front of you; and do the same with your right hand. You should see three next to three.

Think of those two sets of three as "33." Now look at each set as the teeth of a 3-toothed comb. Comb back your hair on each side of your head with each of your combs.

Now think of the hairiest president in US history. Right!! The hairiest president in US history was Harry S. Truman...and he was the 33rd president (33, your fingers; combs to comb the hair of Hairy, or Harry).

That's a ridiculous mnemonic device, but it works, if I've given you halfway decent instructions.

Anyway, I hope that you'll share some mnemonics here with the forum and me. This is kind of a passion of mine, and I'd love to mine some new ones...simple, humorous, meandering. I may quote you in my paper!! (Most likely read only by my prof, but what the heck!)

Best regards,
DubDub (with two three-toothed combs in her hair)

My two rats leap no jelly meal fopcap, my name for John Shar's mama famine kitchen police. Luzon Fifi.

Sheriff - is a really funny fellow. (one "r", two "f"s)

Accommodation - rates are based on double occupancy so double "C"s and "M"s

Liaison -- to work properly needs a pair of eyes (two "I"s)


And the famous quote from writer Alexaner Woollcott when a reporter asked the correct spelling of his name : "When in doubt put in two of everything."

My Very Educated Mother Just Sat Upon Noodle Puding!

But the lastest i have read about astronomy indicated that maybe Pluto isn't a planet, but just a large object in a second asteroid belt.. in which case, i guess my mother just sat upon Noodles.. or napkins.. or needles..

and not as neat, but fork has 4 letters, just like left, and knife and spoon have 5 letters just like right.. and now you know how to set (lay) the table!

fork(s) to the left, knife(s) and spoon(s) to the right!
--i have a real big problem with right and left.. if it weren't for the fact the your left hand makes an L, i still wouldn't know the difference.. until i learned that little trick, i used to have to pull out an etiquette book each time i had company to set the table!

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars...
All are plan-ets -- not stars!
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto...
All revolve around the sun -- in tune and tempo.

(from a Richmond Symphony Orchestra brochure for students attending a performance of Holst's Planets even though Pluto hadn't been discovered when Holst wrote the work)

and on any clear night this month, rising in the east, and clearly visible by 8:00PM-- Jupiter..

if you are lucky, you can even see it set in the AM. at 7AM, (the sun has already risen in NYC at that time)- but, low in the western sky, jupiter is not quite set yet.. it is about as bright as the moon.. clearly visible! in all my years i have never seen venus as morning star, still visible after the sun rose!
Jupiter's "day" is 9 hours (to our 24) and later this month, when it rises even earlier, it will be possible to watch a full day on jupiter (if you stay up all night)
It's enough for me to catch sight of the red spot (you need only the simplest of telescopes--i don't have one that needs a tripod.-- its barely more than a child scope)

In anatomy medical student devise many mnemonics. For instance, the bones in the wrist were remembered by "Never Lower Tilly's Pants Her Mother Might Come Home." Navicular, Lunate, Triquetrum, Pisiform, Hamate, Greater Multangular, Lesser Multangular.The Internet site I looked at uses a couple different names.: Scaphoid,Lunate,Triquetral,Pisiform,Trapezium,Trapezoid, Hamate. I'm not ingenious enough to make up a mnemonic to fit the new names.
They were fun in a subject with very little to chuckle about.

credit to my wife for this one (and blame me for any errors)

The cranial nerves, in the proper order for nerves 1-12:
On Old Olympus's Towering Top
A Finn And German Viewed Some Hops.

ocularmotor; optic; olfactory; trigeminal; trochlear;
abducens; facial; acoustic; glossopharyngeal; vagus; spinal accessory; hypoglossal

Oh Be A Fine Girl, Kiss Me (star types)

Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain (the colours of the rainbow)


Bingley

Along the same line, my daughter's home made version - well, it helps her remember it and that is the point

Many volcanoes erupt mulberry jam sandwiches under no pressure.

I thought of changing the middle to "marbles, jasper and stones" but she wasn't impressed!

PM me with other improvements if you don't want to clutter up the board.

Jo

Bingley:

About "Oh be a fine girl and kiss me..." what are the types? The phrase is positively memorable.

And colors of the rainbow: They're the person called,
"Roy G. Biv," too.

DubDub

My two rats leap no jelly meal fopcap, my name for John Shar's mama famine kitchen police. Luzon Fifi.

OK, Faldage, I'll bite.

Now I need a large container of coffee.
The number of letters, in each words, provides 3.1415926.

About "Oh be a fine girl and kiss me..." what are the types?
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/stars/startypes.shtml: "Stars are classified by their spectra (the elements that they absorb) and their temperature. There are seven main types of stars. In order of decreasing temperature, O, B, A, F, G, K, and M.
O and B stars are uncommon but very bright; M stars are common but dim.

An easy mnemonic for remembering these is: "Oh be a fine girl, kiss me."
The Sun is a as a G2V type star, a yellow dwarf and a main sequence star. [sic]"

Great phrase, bingley!

In the days of Cicero, there were complicated ways by which long speeches could be remembered by a complicated mnemonic process. I can't remember where I read about it, most likely in Scientific American. Maybe some of our Latin and Greek scholars can tell us about it.

A sample might be the orator enters a room, the door reminds him of his first paragraph, the table reminds him of the second, each item on the table reminds him of successive sentences or paragraphs.

my two rats leap...

The number of letters, in each word

I get 2344254624345467654. Is this pi in heptasemigisemal?

This from Google about pi:

3.142857

My two rats leap no jelly meal fopcap, my name for John Shar's mama famine kitchen police. Luzon Fifi.

I fail to see how we get even 3.1 from the above. (My has two letters; two has three letters....

Please throw me a line here, somebody. What am I not seeing that everybody else here is seeing and, apparently, happy taking bites out of?

Best regards,
Dub R. SquaredAway--Not!

[Sigh] Sorting out the above confusion: if I have a large piece of π, "Now I need a large container of coffee." Count the letters in each word of the italicized mnemonic, to recall that π (to 8 significant digits) is 3.1415926:

3 - n o w
1 - I
4 - n e e d
1 - a
5 - l a r g e
9 - c o n t a i n e r
2 - o f
6 - c o f f e e

This is less sophisticated than the others, but I remember my neighbor's phone number because the first three numbers are the same as mine, and the last four are the date of the Battle of Hastings. The association is enhanced by my neighbor's being an English teacher.

I bombed my first attempt at first year chemistry whilst at uni. Being a compulsory core subject, I had to pass it second time around or I would have been prevented from doing any second year subjects.

I don't know if it's changed, but back in those days (1977) you had to be able to create the main part of the periodic table from scratch. You were given a blank table at the start of an exam which needed to be completed to help you answer some of the questions. (As I recall, there were no marks awarded for completing the table itself!!)

I now forget all the pnemonics I created (maybe they weren't so good after all!) to regenerate the table, but the one for the 5th row went:

Ruby.........(Rubidium - Rb)
Strong's..........(Strontium - Sr)
Indian..........(Indium - In)
Snake..........(Tin - Sn)
Sobs..........(Antimony - Sb)
Terribly..........(Tellurium - Te)
In..........(Iodine - I)
Exile..........(Xenon - Xe)

I was terribly proud of all the pnemonics because each word contained the letters for an element's symbol and, if there was a doubt as to which element it was, the pronunciation helped out (eg to differentiate between Indium and Iodine in the 5th row.)

I passed!

stales

2 1.414 Rat race. Picture two rats racing through a maze.

3 1.732 Kimono. Picture a kimono with triangular figures in its pattern.

5 2.236 Enmesh. Picture the Pentagon enmeshed in red tape.

6 2.449 Rare bee. Picture a bee with blue and yellow stripes in a honeycomb with its six sided sections.

7 2.646 Sure shot. Picture a sharpshooter shooting seven cans off of a fence with his pistol.

8 2.828 Fan fold. Picture a folding fan with eight segments.

Success - Double the c and double the s and you will always have success!

Together - To get together, you have to get her!

Friend - A friend is a friend 'til the end!

I still use those from time to time. There is also the Right Hand Rule. Helpful determining the direction of the magnetic field created by a moving current (or something). Is it really a mnemonic device if you don't remember the details?

I also am sure you, Wordwind, as a music teacher of youngsters, know all the Every Good Boy Does Fine, FACE, All Cows Eat Grass, etc. mnemonics for learning the notes of the staff.

faldage, sigh all you want, I still don't unnerstand yer square root mnemonic.
what's 449 got to do with rare bees?

Faldage, I suspect one won't understand your numeric mnemonic until you explain the general code, suitable for translating a series of digits into a series of consonants (and thence into a word):

1 = t (think "one vertical stroke in letter")
2 = n (two verticals)
3 = m (three verticals)
4 = r (fourth letter in "four")
etc.

1 = t (think "one vertical stroke in letter") Also d since d is a voiced t
2 = n (two verticals)
3 = m (three verticals)
4 = r (fourth letter in "four")
5 = l because l is Roman numeral 50.
6 = j because j looks like a backwards 6. Also ch, sh, soft g, etc.
7 = k because a k can be made from two sevens. Also hard g and hard c.
8 = f because handwritten f has two loops like an eight. Also v, ph.
9 = p because p looks like a backwards 9. Also b
0 = z because z is the first letter of zero. Also s, soft c.

In my two rats John Shar's reduces to John Shar (don't ask) and kitchen police reduces to KP.

Another device to remember a list of words or names is to learn (by brute force or by further mnemonic) how many of them begin with each letter of the alphabet.

For example, one trying to recite the names of all fifty US states might begin by learning how many begin with A, with B, with C, etc. Then, knowing how many you need to grope for with each letter, it takes but little practice to learn to bring them to mind.
4 A's: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas
0 B's
3 C's: Califonia, Colorado, Connecticut
(etc.)

My own mnemoniac is my pal Andy to whom I ply with cheap wine and flatteries but alas he is oft times gone and so I many times resort to the more traditional. For example, the code to the security alarm at the warehouse is 1492, so mnemonically I inverted the two middle numbers to read 1942, -get it- thats the year that we, the Americans of the world, first split the atom. Pretty neat, huh?

That's because of my repeated dittography, max!

Medical mnemonics galore. (CAUTION: Many are quite terrible and next to useless)

http://www.medicalmnemonics.com

1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.

And now, with the number inversion of the ocean blue, I'll remember 1942...

As for the states, it's easier to learn the state song I wrote. Once learned, you get all the states, all the capitals, plus the order in which the states became part of the nation. Impossible to teach here, but of Troy says she wants to learn it at Wordapalooza...or maybe she said the president chant. Whatever, since I can't be a president or a state, at least I can teach 'em.

Music is great mnemonic glue. Who'd ever forget the ABC's?

Then I've heard of the song lines the Aboriginies (sp?) use for following terrain. That sounds mnemonically fascinating.

WW

Anybody have a mnemonic device for associating the requisite number of humps for the dromedary and the bactrian camels? I get 'em confused....

DubDub

>OK, Faldage, I'll bite.

Anna, I think that is more information about your personal life than we need to know!

number of humps for the dromedary and the bactrian

the dromedary has a hump, the bactrian has a hump and another one.

Dear Faldage:

What reflief! Thanks!

Beast regards,
Dub

Even easier:

A D has one hump, and so does a Dromedary; a B has two humps, and so does a Bactrian. Mentally lay the D and B on their spines, and you'll see the camels' humps.

The camel has a single hump,
The dromendary, two.
Or else the other way around...
I'm never sure. Are you?

(and btw, it is the other way around.)

Another device to remember pi is the footbal-cheer used at various schools of engineering. The variant I learned is from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute:

e to the X dy/dx,
e to the X dx,
cosine, secant, tangent, sine,
3.14159,
square root, cube root, log of pi,
dis - integrate them RPI!

an aside:
(1) the first two lines allude to the famous and onomatopoeic Croaking Chorus from Aristophanes' comedy, The Frogs: "Brek-kek-kek-kax, co-ax, co-ax. (2) cross-threading: that chorus is also the answer to a poser I posed a few weeks ago: what is a "caxi"?

Take the capital B from Dromedary and turn it 90 degrees to anticlockwise. It has one hump. Take the capital B from Bactrian and turn it similarly. It has two humps.

And I know if I had read the rest of the thread I would have found that someone else already answered it .

Take the capital B from Dromedary and turn it 90 degrees to anticlockwise. It has one hump....And I know if I had read the rest of the thread I would have found that someone else already answered it .

and more accurately, at that.

OOPS!

the capital B from Dromedary

and more accurately, at that.

We all knew that TEd has a way with words, now we find out he has a way with letters, too.

OK, I finally remembered one that hasn't been posted yet.

To the tune of Pop Goes the Weasel

"X" equals negative "b"
plus or minus square root
"b" squared minus 4 "a" "c"
all over 2 "a".

This, of course, is the formula for the quadratic equation, taught to me by my AP Calculus teacher last year.

This, of course, is the formula for the quadratic equation...

Of course. [wise nod]

I finally remembered one

Great mnemonic if you have to work to remember it.* And it doesn't scan too well, does it? I still haven't quite fit it to the music.

*Course I had to work back from the square root of 6 to get Rare Bee instead of the Busy Bee that I had remembered and this with the stupid Mac calculator what I couldn't figure out how to put it in scientific mode.

I forgot one too.. even though i have been using it of late..how to treat an injury -- that hasn't broken the skin..
Rest
Ice
Ccompression
Elevation.

and as for some one who has passed out..
If the face is pale, raise the tail.
If the face is red, raise the head...

and one i only half remember.. one of the latin experts will have to fix it--the four signs of infection
Cholar (redness)
Molar (swelling)
Dolar (Pain)
Solar (Heat--fever).
Molar and solar are right.. since they came into english unchanged.. is it color (as in colorado-- the red river?) or colar..?

I still haven't quite fit it to the music. I with you, Faldage.

"X" equals negative "b" It seems to be missing the first two "pick-up" notes... if you catch my *drift.

"b" squared minus 4 "a" "c"... I got rhythm I... got rhythm I got... rhythm who could ask...etc. I can't even *make it fit...

All Cows Eat Grass (bass clef spaces)
Good Boys Do Fine Always (bass clef lines)

After screwing up one post here already, I hesitate to continue.

When I was a young kid taking first aid, we learned that PAIL described the four types of wounds, puncture, abrasion, incision, and laceration.

And one I have never forgotten, though I learned it from a children's book half a century ago, is how to spell it separate rather than seperate: there's a rat in separate. I have no idea why this particular story had such an impression on me, but I can still remember the entire plot of this book!

And Faldage's mnemonic is driving me crazy. At first I thought it might have something to do with the symbols for the elements, but two hours of sweating over it left me with zilch.

okokokok, I didn't explain it well enough. (I think my calc teacher made it up herself.)

"X" equals negative "b" Yes, you ignore the "pick-up" notes. "X" would be on the second note otherwise.

"b" squared minus 4 "a" "c" "Squared" is only one syllable, but I think the main confusion is that 4 is sung over 2 notes.

the four signs of infection
Cholar (redness)
Molar (swelling)
Dolar (Pain)
Solar (Heat--fever).


I learned them as

rubor = redness
tumor = swelling
dolor = pain
calor = heat
and
functio laese = loss of function (doesn't fit the pattern - never did. Too bad - deal with it)

The first four translate fairly directly into standard English, anyway

spelling: aborigines OR, these days, aboriginal people.

stales

bactrian camels have a "train" of humps on their back!

(you'll know which is which now, but you'll always spell it wrong!)

stales

Well, at long last, we have finally resolved the matter of "humps". Perhaps now we can move on to more savory subjects of mnemonic learning such as the origins of these camels.

Dromedary: Known as "the arabian camel.
Bactrian: Rearrange the letters in "a bactrian" to read "ain't arab"
Further, if challenged, I can prove mnemonically that "ain't" is proper english.

Incidentally; In mid last century rural Alabama it was quite acceptable in polite society to remark.. "Mary Ellen finally had her youn'un. It was a little nine pound humper". Then and there, people were more colorful and more direct.

Keiva: For example, one trying to recite the names of all fifty US states might begin by learning how many begin with A, with B, with C, etc.

Or you could learn the song "Fifty Nifty United States" that I learned in 5th Grade for my school's "Parade of States." I still know the damned song, and therefore can immediately rattle off all 50 states in alphabetical order. I wish I knew who wrote the thing, but maybe you could LIU if you're interested.

I ... can immediately rattle off all 50 states in alphabetical order.

Probably faster than you could rattle off the months of the year, the first ten digits or even the names of the days of the week in alphabetical order.

Yes, Flatlander, and that's a fun way. The method I mentioned (for words) parallels Faldage's-method-for-numbers, in that it is of general application.

Many thanks for staightening out the humps on the dromedary and bactrian camels. (I wish tsuwm had posted some etymological information!)

Do any of you have mnemonic devices for distinguishing among the flower parts: corolla, calyx, perianth, sepals and petals? (Petals aren't always what they seem, as in the case of the daisy...)

WW

>I wish tsuwm had posted some etymological information!

man, if I posted etyminfo for every word discussion that came along, I'd be like... a poohbah or sumptin.

If you make a fist with one hand and point at the knuckles and valleys with a finger while naming the months,either switching hands or bouncing on the last and coming back, you get which months have 31 days (the knuckles) and which don't (the valleys). Never as useful as remembering your left hand makes an L.

I've heard that blondes get "TGIF" printed on their shoes...

Nothing to do with "Thank God it's Friday".......

Toes Go In First.

stales

In reply to:

---

The camel has a single hump,
The dromendary, two.
Or else the other way around...
I'm never sure. Are you?

(and btw, it is the other way around.)

---

Reminds me of:

The one elled lama, he's a priest,
The two elled llama, he's a beast,
I'll bet you your pyjama
You've never seen a three elled lllama.

Bingley

Your attention is invited to an urban conflagration known as a three alarmer.

This is how Nash ended his original poem.

"etyminfo"

============================================================

And Bingley--that's pajama, or was your mama a llama?

No, my mum's not a llama, but she has been known to get the hump [reminiscent quaking].

Bingley

to get the hump
Bingley, I confess I'm rather shocked--you seldom if ever visit the gutter. But, obviously she did--you're here, aren't you?

We have - yet again - the US-UK linguistic divide rearing its fascinating head again.

Pyjama is the usual spelling for us Brits; and "having the hump" is a very old-fashioned way of saying that you are in a foul mood.
('Tis an expression that my Mama used as well, Bingley! She used to recite a comic poem about "... you'll get the hump, the camelious hump, the hump that is black and blue." For the life of me, I can't remember the rest of it - any offers?)

Rhuby: http://www.boop.org/jan/justso/camel.htm (at the end); spelled with a double "e"

He to she: Do you love Kipling?
She (dumb blonde): I dunno [giggle]; I've never kippled before.

Thanks, Rhuby; I knew someone would take up the gauntlets I flung.

Here's your poem, my Dear--It's from Kipling's Just So Stories, "How the Camel Got His Hump".

THE Camel's hump is an ugly lump
Which well you may see at the Zoo;
But uglier yet is the hump we get
From having too little to do.

Kiddies and grown-ups too-oo-oo,
If we haven't enough to do-oo-oo,
We get the hump--
Cameelious hump--
The hump that is black and blue!

We climb out of bed with a frouzly head
And a snarly-yarly voice.
We shiver and scowl and we grunt and we growl
At our bath and our boots and our toys;

And there ought to be a corner for me
(And I know there is one for you)
When we get the hump--
Cameelious hump--
The hump that is black and blue!

The cure for this ill is not to sit still,
Or frowst with a book by the fire;
But to take a large hoe and a shovel also,
And dig till you gently perspire;

And then you will find that the sun and the wind.
And the Djinn of the Garden too,
Have lifted the hump--
The horrible hump--
The hump that is black and blue!

I get it as well as you-oo-oo--
If I haven't enough to do-oo-oo--
We all get hump--
Cameelious hump--
Kiddies and grown-ups too!

You can read the story, with illustrations, here:
http://www.boop.org/jan/justso/camel.htm

The one-l lama, he's a priest.
The two-l llama, he's a beast.
But I will bet a pink pajama
There isn't any three-l lllama! *"

In my book it was a footnote:
" *The author's attention has been called to an urban conflagration known as a three alarmer. Pooh."

[and he didn't mean Winnie, either]

was Nash a smoker, den??

J, isn't that what I just said? Harumpf!

was Nash a smoker, den??
and he wore pink pajamas, wofuholicodoc? is that the cause for disdain?

btw, I tried googling to check out your quotation, but found myself extremely distracted by some of the items produed by searching "pink pajama".