List of mnemonics

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This article contains a list of notable mnemonics used to remember various objects, lists, etc.

Astronomy

obsolete (per the IAU definition of planet):
Most Vegetables Eat More Juice So Usually Never Pee[1]
My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Potatoes[1]
Many Vicious Elephants Met Just Slightly Under New Pineapples[1]
My Very Easy Method Just Speeds Up Naming Planets
Mark's Very Extravagant Mother Just Sent Us Ninety Parakeets
Mother Very Eagerly Made A (Asteroids) Jelly Sandwich Under No Protest

Since the IAU change the definition of a planet and relegated Pluto to the status of minor planet, the following has gained popularity

My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nachos
Oh Be A Fine Girl/Guy, Kiss Me Right Now, Sweetheart![2]
Old, Bald, And Fat Generals Kiss More Ladies Than You[3]
(Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces)
  A Tense Grey Cat Lays  Very Low, Sneaking Slowly, Contemplating   A Pounce.
Jupiter: 5 AU,  Saturn: 10 AU,  Uranus: 20 AU,  Neptune: 30 AU,  Pluto: 40 AU

Biology

Chemistry

Harry, he likes beer by cupfuls, not over frothy, never nasty mugs allowed. Since past six closing, are kegs cancelled?
(H, He, Li, Be, B, C, N, O, F, Ne, Na, Mg, Al, Si, P, S, Cl, Ar, K, Ca.)

An Ox (Oxidation at Anode)

Red Cat (Reduction at Cathode)

Positive Anode Negative Is Cathode
At the ANode, Oxidation Involves electron Loss.
Reduction Involves electron Gain at the CAThode.
Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen
Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Phosphorus, Sulfur

Engineering

Big brown rabbits often yield great big vocal groans when gingerly slapped[14]
Bad boys run our young girls behind victory garden walls[15]
B .B Roy [of] Great Britain [has] Very Good Wife.

Geography

  • Boring, Average Politics Can Become Very Corrupt. People Everywhere Get Used Sometimes
  • Big Gorillas Eat Hotdogs, Not Cold Pizza[16]
  • Including Mexico, My Grandma's Bunny Eats Hamburgers, Not Canned Peas
  • Super Heroes Must Eat Oats
  • Huron Ontario Michigan Erie Superior: HOMES
Latitude, Altitude, Build, Distance from the sea, Ocean currents, Wind, Aspect

Geology

  • Pregnant Camels Often Sit Down Carefully, Perhaps Their Joints Creak? Possibly Early Oiling Might Prevent Permanent Rheumatism[8]: 62–63 [17]
  • Paleozoic to Cenozoic: Pregnant Camels Ordinarily Sit Down Carefully, Perhaps Their Joints Creak[18]
  • Post-Cretaceous Epochs: Please Eat Oats My Pretty Pet Horse (Holocene)
For Talc(=1), Gypsum(=2), Calcite(=3), Fluorite(=4), Apatite(=5), Orthoclase(=6), Quartz(=7), Topaz(=8), Corundum(=9), Diamond(=10)
  • Tall Girls Can Fight And Other Queer Things Can Develop[8]: 64 
  • TAll GYroscopes CAn FLy APart ORbiting QUickly TO COmplete DIsintegration[8]: 64 
  • Toronto Girls Can Flirt And Only Quit To Chase Dwarves
  • Terrible Giants Can Find Alligators Or Quaint Trolls Conveniently Digestible
  • Tall Gene Calls Florence At Our Quarters To Correct Dumbness[20]

History

  • She Shamefully Chose Chinese Hand Jingles (and) SiNfully Sweet Tango Songs: "You (and) Me, Chickadee!"[17]
  • No Plan Like Yours To Study History Wisely.[22]
  • All Boys Should Come Home Please[8]: 103 
  • Do Men Ever Visit Boston?[17]
  • Losers Bearing Grudges Grieve Mainly Cowards Killing Orators

Languages

Characteristic sequence of letters

In most words like friend, field, piece, pierce, mischief, thief, tier, it is "i" which comes before "e". But on some words with c just before the pair of e and i, like receive, perceive, "e" comes before "i". This can be remembered by the following mnemonic,

I before E, except after C

But this is not always obeyed as in case of weird and weigh, weight, height, neighbor etc. and can be remembered by extending that mnemonic as given below

I before E, except after C
Or when sounded "A" as in neighbor, weigh and weight
Or when sounded like "eye" as in height
And "weird" is just weird

Another variant, which avoids confusion when the two letters represent different sounds instead of a single sound, as in atheist or being, runs

When it says ee
Put i before e
But not after c

Most frequently u follows q. e.g.: Que, queen, question, quack, quark, quartz, quarry, quit, Pique, torque, macaque, exchequer. Hence the mnemonic:

Where ever there is a Q there is a U too[24] (But this is violated by some words; see:List of English words containing Q not followed by U)

Letters of specific syllables in a word

Do not believe a lie.[24]
A secretary must keep a secret[24]
There is an ache in every teacher.[24]
Be sure of your measurements before you start work.[24]
Fri the end of your friend[24]
The CIA have special agents[24]
Big Elephants Are Ugly[25]
Always smell a rat when you spell separate[24]
There was a farmer named Sep and one day his wife saw a rat. She yelled, “Sep! A rat – E!!!”[26]
The principal is your pal.

Distinguishing between similar words

Advice, Practice, Licence etc. (those with c) are nouns and Advise, Practise, License etc. are verbs.

One way of remembering this is that the word ‘noun’ comes before the word ‘verb’ in the dictionary; likewise ‘c’ comes before ‘s’, so the nouns are ‘practice, licence, advice’ and the verbs are ‘practise, license, advise’.[27]
We hear with our ear.
complement adds something to make it enough
compliment puts you in the limelight[24]
Your principal is your pal
A rule can be called a principle[26]
Remedial work is meant to remedy.
Menial work is boring but it's mean (-ial) to complain.
Theirs is not mine even though 'I' is in it.
There is where we'll be.
They're is a contraction of 'they are.'
Stationery contains er and so does paper; stationary (not moving) contains ar and so does car[24]
A for "at rest", e for envelope
Gray is preferred in America while grey is preferred in England

First letter mnemonics of spelling

Dashing In A Rush, Running Harder (or) Else Accident!
Dining In A Rough Restaurant: Hurry, (otherwise) Expect Accidents!
Diarrhea Is A Really Runny Heap (of) Endless Amounts[25]
A Rat In The House May Eat The Ice Cream[28]
Not Every Cat Eats Sardines (Some Are Really Yummy)[28]
Never Eat Chocolate, Eat Sardine Sandwiches And Remain Young
Big Elephants Can Always Understand Small Elephants
Big Elephants Cause Accidents Under Small Elephants
Big Elephants Can't Always Use Small Exits
Big Elephants Can’t Always Use Small Entrances[28]
Mnemonics Now Erase Man's Oldest Nemesis, Insufficient Cerebral Storage[26]
George's Elderly Old Grandfather Rode A Pig Home Yesterday.[26]
Trails Of My Old Red Rose Over Window[25]
Rhythm Helps Your Two Hips Move[28]

Grammar

devenir, revenir, monter, rester, sortir, venir, aller, naître, descendre, entrer, rentrer, tomber, retourner, arriver, mourir, partir[32]

Mathematics

Pi

The first 15 numbers of Pi can be remembered by counting the letters in the phrase, "How I want a drink, alcoholic of course, after the heavy lectures involving quantum mechanics."

Quadratic equation

The articulation of the quadratic equation can be sung to the tune of various songs as a mnemonic device.[33]

Mathematical operations

For helping students in remembering the rules in adding and multiplying two signed numbers, Balbuena and Buayan (2015) made the letter strategies LAUS (like signs, add; unlike signs, subtract) and LPUN (like signs, positive; unlike signs, negative), respectively.[34]
Order of Operations
PEMDAS
Please - Parenthesis
Excuse - Exponents
My - Multiplication
Dear - Division
Aunt - Addition
Sally - Subtraction
(In the UK, the phrase BIDMAS is used instead; Brackets, Indices, Division, Multiplication, Addition, Subtraction.)[35]

Trigonometry

The mnemonic "SOHCAHTOA" (occasionally spelt "SOH CAH TOA") is often used to remember the basic trigonometric functions:[36]

Other mnemonics that have been used for this include:

Some Old Hippie Caught Another Hippie Tripping On Acid.

Ships Of Holland Call At Harwich To Obtain Apples.

Sighs Of Happiness Come After Having Tankards Of Ale.

Some Old Hen Caught Another Hen Taking Off Alone.

Silly Old Hitler Can't Advance His Troops On Africa.

Topology

Mnemonics for Euler's characteristic are "fav. me", for "F  add V, minus E ", and "veryfun".[37]

Calculus

The mnemonic "LIATE" is commonly used to determine which functions are to be chosen as u and DV in integration by parts.

Medicine

Anatomy

'A OF A OF A'

Thenar (lateral to medial-palmar surface): 

Abductor pollicis brevis
    Opponens pollicis
    Flexor pollicis brevis
    Adductor pollicis

Hypothenar (lateral to medial-palmar surface): 

Opponens digiti minimi
    Flexor digiti minimi
    Abductor digiti minimi
My Tensors Dig Ants for Mom
2 big ones, 2 small ones, 2 tensors, 2 pterygoids
Some Lovers Try Positions That They Can't Handle
She Looks Too Pretty Try To Catch Her
So Long To Pinky, Here Comes The Thumb
Simply Learn The Positions That The Carpus Has
Send Louis To Paris To Tame Carnal Hungers
Stop Letting Those People Touch The Cadaver's Hands
VINDICATE
List of mnemonics for the cranial nerves, their respective type and foramen
NERVE: Olfactory nerve Optic nerve Oculomotor nerve Pathic (Trochlear) nerve Trigeminal (dentist) nerve Abducens nerve Facial nerve Vestibulo-cochlear (Auditory) nerve Glosso-pharyngeal nerve Vagus nerve Spinal Accessory nerve Hypoglossal nerve
Ophthalmic Maxillary Mandibular
Mnemonic:
(for nerve)[40] 		OLd OPen OCeans TROuble TRIbesmen ABout Fish VEnom Giving VArious ACute / SPlitting Headaches
On Old Olympus' Towering Top A Fat Vocal German Viewed A Hop
TYPE: Sensory Sensory Motor Motor Both (sensory + motor) Motor Both Sensory Both Both Motor Motor
Mnemonic:
(for type)[41] 		Some Say Money Matters, But My Brother Says Big Brains Matter More
FORAMINA: Cribriform plate Optic canal Superior Orbital Fissure Superior Orbital Fissure Superior Orbital Fissure Foramen Rotundum Foramen Ovale Superior Orbital Fissure Internal Acoustic Meatus Internal Acoustic Meatus Jugular Foramen Jugular Foramen Jugular Foramen Hypoglossal Canal
Mnemonics:
(for foramina) 		Cleaners Only Spray Smelly Stuff Right On Smelly Idiots In Jumbled Junkyards Juggled High
Carl Only Swims South. Silly Roger Only Swims In Infiniti Jacuzzis. Jane Just Hitchhikes.

Music

Bowed strings

Guitar

  • Every Average Dude Gets Better Eventually
  • Eggs Are Deliciously Good Breakfast Energy
  • Eddy Ate Dynamite Good Bye Eddy
  • Every Adult Dog Growls Barks Eats.
  • Every Acid Dealer Gets Busted Eventually
  • Even After Dinner Giant Boys Eat
  • Elephants All Dine Generally Before Eight
  • Elephants And Donkeys Grow Big Ears
  • Every American Dog Gets Bones Easily
  • Every Angel Does Good Before Evil
  • Eat All Day Get Big Easy
  • Eine Alte Dame Geht Heute Einkaufen (German: an old lady goes shopping today)
  • Een Aap Die Geen Bananen Eet (Dutch: A monkey that doesn't eat bananas)

Thus we get the names of the strings from 6th string to the 1st string in that order.

Conversely, a mnemonic listing the strings in the reverse order is:

  • Every Beginning Guitarist Does All Exercises!
  • Elvis' Big Great Dane Ate Everything
  • Every Big Girl Deserves An Elephant
  • Easter Bunny Gets Drunk At Easter
  • Easter Bunnies Go Dancing After Easter

Ukulele

As for guitar tuning, there is also a mnemonic for ukuleles.

  • Good Cooks Eat A-lot
  • In the other direction it is Aunt Evy Cooks Grits

Reading music

E, G, B, D, and F
  • Every Good Boy Does Fine.[45]
  • Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge (or Friendship, Fun, Fruit, etc.)
  • Eggnog Gets Better During February
  • Empty Garbage Before Dad Flips
F, A, C, and E
  • Good Boys Do Fine Always
  • Good Birds Don't Fly Away
  • Grizzly Bears Don't Fly Airplanes
  • Great Basses Dig Fine Altos
  • Goblins Bring Death For All
  • George Bush Didn't Find Anything
  • Good Burritos Don't Fall Apart
  • All Cows Eat Grass
  • All Cars Eat Gas
  • Fat Alley Cat Eats Garbage
  • Green Birds Do Fly
Key signatures of C♯ major or A♯ minor (left) and C♭ major or A♭ minor (right)
  • Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle
  • Father Christmas Gave Dad An Electric Blanket.[46]
  • Fat Cats Go Down Alleys Eating Birds.
  • Fidel Castro Gets Drunk And Eats Babies.
  • Fat Cats Greedy Dogs All Eat Bananas.
  • Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles' Father
  • Blanket Exploded And Dad Got Cold Feet.[46]
  • Before Eating A Doughnut Get Coffee First.

Philosophy

Physics

Theology

Transportation

  • "Red, Right, Return" reminds the skipper entering ("returning to") an IALA region B port to keep red markers to the starboard of the vessel. Conversely the opposite convention exists in IALA region A ports, where a similar (but significantly different) mnemonic of "Red on the Right Returning To Sea" can be used.
  • The phrase "there's always some red port (wine) left" is used to remember the basics in seafaring. "Red" refers to the color of navigation lights on the port (left) side of a vessel (as opposed to green on the starboard side).[47]
  • "Nuclear Restrictions Constrain Fishing and Sailing, People Say" is used to encode the "order of priority" for which vessels have right of way (earlier in the list has priority over later): Not under command; Restricted; Constrained by draft; Fishing vessel; Sailboat; Powerboat; Seaplane.[47]

  • CRAFT - Clearance limit, Route, Altitude, Frequency, Transponder.
  • pre-landing: GUMPS - Gas, Undercarriage, Mixture, Propeller, Speed.
  • pre-final: MARTHA - Missed (procedure), Altitude (limit), Radios (set), Time (limit), Heading (final), Airspeed (descent)
  • pre-high-altitude - FLOWER - Flow (enabled), Lights (test), Oxygen (charged), Water (humidity), Electricity (on), Radio (check)
  • pre-flight-paperwork - ARROW - Airworthiness (certificate), Registration, Required (charts), Operating (checklists), Weight and balance
  • night collision avoidance: Red, Right, Returning - Red nav light on Right implies target is Returning (closing)
  • radio loss Instrument course - CDEF - as Cleared, else Direct to last fix, else as directed to Expect, else as flight plan Filed
  • spin recovery - POKER - Power (off), Opposite (full rudder), Klean (flaps, ...), Elevator (briskly forward), Recover (from dive)

Units of measure

  • kilo-, hecto-, deca-, deci-, centi-, milli-, in descending order of magnitude:
"Base" (Meters, liters, grams) come in between "deca" and "deci".
  • Kangaroos Hop Down British Driveways Carrying M&Ms[50]
  • King Henry Drank Both Diet Cokes Monday[50][dead link]
  • King Henry Died By Drinking Chocolate Milk[50][dead link]
  • deca-, hecto-, kilo-, mega-, giga-, tera-, in ascending order of magnitude:
  • Decadent Hector Killed Meg's Gigantic Terrier[50][dead link]
  • deci-,-, milli-, micro-, nano-, pico-, femto-, atto- in descending order of magnitude:
  • Darn Clever Mnemonic Makes No Prefix Forgettable, Absolutely[50][dead link]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Brown, Mike (2012). How I killed Pluto and why it had it coming. Spiegel & Grau Trade Paperback. ISBN 978-0385531108.
  2. ^ "SPECTRAL CLASSIFICATION OF STARS". www.eudesign.com. Retrieved 2019-04-06.
  3. ^ Kirkpatrick, J. D. (2008). "Outstanding Issues in Our Understanding of L, T, and Y Dwarfs". 14th Cambridge Workshop on Cool Stars. 384: 85. arXiv:0704.1522. Bibcode:2008ASPC..384...85K.
  4. ^ James M. Russell, Never Eat Shredded Wheat: Weird Ways to Remember Things, Michael O'Mara Books, 18 Oct 2018
  5. ^ E.D. Hirsch, Jr., The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy (Houghton Mifflin, 1993); E.D. Hirsch, Jr., "What Your Fifth Grader Needs to Know: Fundamentals of a Good Fifth-grade Education" (Doubleday, 2005) p308
  6. ^ Scott Hagwood, Memory Power: You Can Develop a Great Memory--America's Grand Master Shows You How (Simon & Schuster, 2007)
  7. ^ Robert A. Wallace, et al., Biology, the Science of Life (Scott, Foresman, 1986) p398
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Parkinson, Judy (2008). I before E (except after C) : old-school ways to remember stuff. Pleasantville, N.Y.: Reader's Digest Association. ISBN 978-07621-0917-3.
  9. ^ "Mnemonics". xkcd. Retrieved 2021-11-20.
  10. ^ "Life processes - MRS GREN". KS3 Bitesize. BBC. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
  11. ^ Psychology: Concepts and Connections, Spencer Rathus
  12. ^ "Caloric Reflex (COWS): How does it work?". Medicine Specifics. 18 January 2017. Retrieved 2021-11-20.
  13. ^ "MedicalMnemonics Full Abridged" (PDF). Medicalmnemonics.com. p. 36. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  14. ^ Ganssle, Jack; Noergaard, Tammy; Eady, Fred; Edwards, Lewin; Katz, David J.; Gentile, Rick; Arnold, Ken; Hyder, Kamal; Perrin, Bob (2007-09-14). Embedded Hardware: Know It All. Newnes. ISBN 978-0-08-056074-8.
  15. ^ Niebel, Benjamin W.; Freivalds, Andris (2003). "big+brown"&pg=PA297 Methods, Standards, and Work Design. ISBN 9780072468243.
  16. ^ Dempsey, Caitlin (22 January 2017). "Geography Mnemonic to Learn the Countries of Central America". Geography Realm. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  17. ^ a b c "11 Tricks for Keeping World History Straight". mentalfloss.com. 5 January 2016. Retrieved 2019-05-05.
  18. ^ "Mnemonic: Eras of Life". ict4us.com. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  19. ^ "Mnemonic: Mineral Hardness". ict4us.com. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  20. ^ "Mnemonic devices for: Chemistry". Mnemonic-device.eu. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  21. ^ "Mnemonic: Stalactites and Stalagmites". ict4us.com. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  22. ^ Pauk, Walter; Owens, Ross J. Q. (2013). How to Study in College. Cengage. p. 246. ISBN 9781285632889.
  23. ^ "Great Mnemonics". Fun-with-words.com. Retrieved 29 Aug 2011.
  24. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Mnemonics - Some Memory Joggers to help you Spell". Archived from the original on 2009-02-14.
  25. ^ a b c Word. Mnemonic
  26. ^ a b c d "Spelling Mnemonics". Archived from the original on 2010-09-24.
  27. ^ "Is it practise or practice? - Future Perfect". Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  28. ^ a b c d "Mnemonics > Useful mnemonics". www.fun-with-words.com. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  29. ^ "Mnemonics in English Language Teaching". Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  30. ^ Brenner, Erin. "The Trouble with FANBOYS". Vocabulary.com. Retrieved 2019-07-14.
  31. ^ Zimmer, Ben. "Of Fanboys and FANBOYS : Word Routes : Thinkmap Visual Thesaurus". Visual Thesaurus. Retrieved 2019-07-14.
  32. ^ Être Verbs - Mnemonic Devices
  33. ^ "Quadratic formula song". Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  34. ^ Mnemonics and Gaming
  35. ^ "How to use BIDMAS to solve equations". BBC Bitesize. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
  36. ^ "Trigonometry - AQA - Revision 1 - GCSE Maths". BBC Bitesize. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
  37. ^ Blaom et al, Maths 190 and Maths 190G 2007 S1 C Studyguide, University of Auckland
  38. ^ LBCC - Memory Tricks, Scott Brueckner
  39. ^ "Intrinsic muscles of hand | Medical Mnemonics". Archived from the original on 2011-07-13. Retrieved 2009-12-19. Mnemonic- Intrinsic muscles of hand
  40. ^ Textbook of Basic Nursing by Caroline Bunker Rosdahl and Mary T. Kowalski (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2007) p194; Medical Terminology for Dummies by Beverley Henderson and Jennifer Dorsey (For Dummies, 2008) p327
  41. ^ Caroline Bunker Rosdahl and Mary T. Kowalski, Textbook of Basic Nursing (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2007) p194
  42. ^ "A Beginner's Guide on How to Tune a Violin [Instructional Video]". TakeLessons Blog. 2015-10-26. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  43. ^ a b "How to Tune Your Violin or Viola". Chris Nichols. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  44. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 18 March 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  45. ^ "Every Good Boy Does Fine". TheFreeDictionary.com. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  46. ^ a b Schonbrun, Marc (2005). The Everything Music Theory Book, p.68. ISBN 1-59337-652-9.
  47. ^ a b c Kuenning, Geoff. "Definitions and Mnemonics for Sailors and Powerboaters". Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  48. ^ "Types of navigation aids". Archived from the original on 2011-09-02. Retrieved 2011-09-06. in the section "The coming in going out rule"
  49. ^ Useful Aviation Mnemonics (published by Dauntless Software, Inc.)
  50. ^ a b c d e Schaeffer, Randy S. (April 16, 2007). "Math Mnemonics". Faculty pages for R.S. Schaeffer. Kutztown PA: Kutztown University. Retrieved November 26, 2011. [dead link]

Further reading

External links

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