Mnemonics to remember - what are yours?

[Ellemeno]

Hi Buds,

As you probably know, a mnemonic is a little trick that helps you remember something.  Reading this post of Scott's, gave me the idea for this thread.

http://bettermost.net/forum/index.php?topic=5777.msg113371#msg113371


What mnemonics have you learned and used?  Have you even invented one that helps you?

Here's one of mine to start off with.  I'm a pretty good speller, but I used to have trouble remembering 'desert' and 'dessert', which one is which.  Then one day the problem was solved, when a friend taught me this trick, "Which one do you want more of?"  Dessert, of course, the one with TWO S's. 

[southendmd]

Great idea, Elle.

I had to learn lots of mnemonics in gross anatomy class.  That was a very long time ago.  I remember many of the mnemonics, but not what they go to:  my favorite example is "a beautiful little bride looks distressed if minus undies" where each word refers to a structure in the wrist.  I think the "undies" refers to the ulnar artery.

This was for the cranial nerves:  "oh, oh, oh, to touch and feel a Grecian vase, ah, heavenly".  As you can imagine, there were several naughty versions of this one.

Here's a spelling one:  to spell "separate", remember there's "a rat" in there.



Remember Johnny Mnemonic?

[Ellemeno]

Paul, I must say, I think I would need mnemonics to remember those unnatural little mnemonic sentences.    That one for 'separate' is handy, that is a very commonly mis-spelled word.

Here's one I think most Americans know:

HOMES - for the Great Lakes
H - Huron
O - Ontario
M - Michigan
E - Erie
S - Superior

[southendmd]

Here's a good one for the mechanically challenged:

Lefty=Loosie

Righty=Tightie

[southendmd]

Anyone remember the Hoagie Carmichael tune for the months?

30 days have September, April, June and November.

All the rest have 31.

Except quite contrary, February, has 28, most of the time.

But in leap years, 29.

[Fran]

I learned dessert had two "S"s with this:  second supper.

[Jeff Wrangler]

I learned the same one as Paul for how to spell separate.

For the months, I never did know what came after "all the rest have 31, except February." 

Let's not forget the one for the planets, in order from the sun: "Mary's violet eyes make John stay up nights permanently." Except, of course, we now have to drop the "permanently."   

[southendmd]

I won't bore y'all with medical mnemonics (I have tons of them).

Here's one from my childhood (with thanks to Sister Mary):

every good boy deserves fudge

for the notes on the staff lines in treble clef.

face

for the notes on the spaces in the treble clef.

[Lynne]

Here's a good one for the mechanically challenged:

Lefty=Loosie

Righty=Tightie

Yep, Paul - this one got me thru freshman physics...along with ROY G. BIV which helps you remember the colors in the rainbow...not sure our font colors coordinate properly.

[Jeff Wrangler]

And then there is always:

"'I' before 'e,' except after 'c,' or when sounded as 'a,' as in 'neighbor' and 'weigh.'"

[southendmd]

Jeff, you just reminded me of something:

"When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking, and it says its own name."

Deliver me from Catholic school.

[southendmd]

A lot of mnemonics are tunes.

Here's a bizarre one from French class:

This is to remember the verbs that take "etre" in the passe compose:

((To the tune of "Yankee Doodle", if you can believe it))

"aller, partir, sortir, venir,
devenir, retourner,
arriver, rester, entrer, monter,
tomber, naitre, mourir."

My French teacher was an actual Frenchman, not a nun.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Jeff, you just reminded me of something:

"When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking, and it says its own name."

Deliver me from Catholic school.

That reminds me of something, though it isn't exactly a mnemonic:

When the consonant is double, the preceding vowel is short. When the consonant is single, the preceding vowel is long.

[nakymaton]

I'll bake cookies for anyone who can figure out what this one is for:

Come over some day; maybe play poker. Three jacks cover two queens.

[southendmd]

Mel,

That would be the geologic time periods.

I like chocolate chip.

Paul

[nakymaton]

  pm me your address if you really want cookies, Paul.

[southendmd]

I'm glad you didn't ask me to recite them...

I'll take a cyber cookie as a reward!  They're less fattening.  Thanks, Mel

[Ellemeno]

"In 14[hundred and]92, Columbus sailed the ocean blue." 

My mother the joker came up with this one simply to ... what?  I don't know, "In 14[hundred and]93, Columbus sailed the deep blue sea."

[Ellemeno]

Here's one I actually use twice a year, when the clocks change:

Spring ahead, fall back.

hey Euro-Brokies, I'd love to hear some more non-English ones.

[serious crayons]

This one won't be helpful specifically, but might be useful in a more general way. The password on my hotmail account is a jumble of random letters and numbers. Used to be, if I wanted to access my email from another computer, I had to carry it around on a little scrap of paper in my my purse.

Then a friend suggested a mnemonic device based on i) the phone prefix of a community near me, 2) a little sentence that is nonsensical but memorable, incorporates the names of a couple of friends and uses the word "zeitgeist," 3) the last two digits of a significant year. Sounds confusing, maybe, but somehow it all makes just enough sense to stand out in my mind. I never forget my password anymore.

And this isn't exactly a mnemonic device, but does anybody remember those old cartoons that featured a ball that bounced along the words to a song? The lyrics to one song went, "M-i-S ... S-I-S ... S-I-P-P-I -- it used to be so hard to spell, it used to make me cry." Now, whenever I want to spell Mississippi, that song goes through my head.

[Kelda]

every good boy deserves fun - (not fudge) for lined notes and face for spaces.

Richard of York Gave Battle In Vein - for the rainbow colours.

Almost the same rhyme for the months..

Others?

definitely =  in and t or i & nit

left and right - wehn you hold your hgands out the lafet one makes an L shape with the ingers and thumb.

I will have a think about athers - there will be loads!!