# Cool Mnemonics **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 24, 2012, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-mnemonics/616675 "2012-03-24T05:44:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-mnemonics/616675/21 "2012-03-24T22:41:09Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > “My Very Eccentric\*\* Mother Just Sent Us Nine Pies.” Planets of our Solar System. A bit obsolete now due to Pluto’s downgrading, and it does change when the orbits of Pluto and Neptune shift. We learned it as “My Very Energetic Mother Just Showed Us Nine Planets”. In our house we’ve started saying, “…Showed Us _Nothing_” out of respect for Pluto. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2012, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-mnemonics/616675/22 "2012-03-25T01:03:40Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > … > 6 year olds who still don’t remember which is their right hand? kids will remember “Naughty Elephants Splash Water” much better, especially since there’s a mental image to go with it and it’s PG. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2012, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-mnemonics/616675/23 "2012-03-25T03:28:00Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > People need a mnemonic to remember the cardinal points? 😕 Not that they’re called north, east, south, and west- the order they’re in. (I learned “Never eat scrambled worms.”) > [@SmartAlecCat](#): > > We always said “King Paul, Charles of France, got stoned.” > [@chizzuk](#): > > I thought that was one of the classics, along with “King Philip Came Over From Great Spain” (for taxonomy in bio) and “Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally” (order of operations). > [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > “Kings play cards on fat\* green stools” here, In high school bio, King Philip came over for good soup/ginger snaps. ---
**Author:** ![KinkiNipponTourist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e9bcb4/32.png) [@KinkiNipponTourist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KinkiNipponTourist)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2012, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-mnemonics/616675/24 "2012-03-25T06:11:38Z")
Streets in mid-Manhattan: Fat Men Pee Less Fifth, Madison, Park, Lexington ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2012, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-mnemonics/616675/25 "2012-03-25T06:32:43Z")
As a kid I was taught this story to help remember how to spell “Wednesday”: A young man was going to **wed** his girlfriend. When the preacher asked if he was ready to marry her, he was too nervous to say yes or no, so he mixed them up and said “ **nes** ”. And he did this on his wedding **day**. Okay, it’s kind of lame when I type it out, but it stuck in my brain in second grade, and still comes back to me every now and then. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2012, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-mnemonics/616675/26 "2012-03-25T07:24:28Z")
I just remembered another one from my childhood. A poem: “Said why eggs double your fee Your tea is our kewpie Oh enamel Kay, Jay I hate G if he decieves B A” Takes a little remembering, but now everyone wonders how I can say teh alphabet backwards so quick 😉 ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2012, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-mnemonics/616675/27 "2012-03-25T16:40:53Z")
His Noblemen Are Kwite Xtra Rude - noble gases from lightest to heaviest (helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon, radon) ---
**Author:** ![Topologist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/topologist/32/3208_2.png) [@Topologist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Topologist)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-mnemonics/616675/28 "2012-03-25T17:37:43Z")
> [@chizzuk](#): > > “King Philip Came Over From Great Spain” (for taxonomy in bio) King Philip Came Over For Good Spaghetti And to add a couple of other classics: Every Good Boy Deserves Favor [or Fudge] for the notes on the lines of the G-clef; FACE for the notes on the spaces. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-mnemonics/616675/29 "2012-03-25T17:43:30Z")
> [@Topologist](#): > > And to add a couple of other classics: Every Good Boy Deserves Favor [or Fudge] for the notes on the lines of the G-clef; FACE for the notes on the spaces. “Every Angel Does Good, Besides Eddie.” Guitar strings, standard tuning. Low to high, or top to bottom if you and the guitar are right handed. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-mnemonics/616675/30 "2012-03-25T17:48:47Z")
I remember both versions (clean and dirty) to make a chart of the characteristics of transistors, altho I don’t recall exactly what all the rows are now. I think I can be forgiven, since I learned this in 1973 and haven’t needed it since that class. Bob … Eats … Carol’s Vanilla … Pudding … In A … Big … Glass Liking … Mostly … Her Hot … Meat … Loaf The first line was Base - Emitter - Collector Second was Voltage - Power - Current And the last two were Low - Medium - High, then High - Medium - Low The dirty version was _Bob eats Carol’s virgin pussy in a big garage licking mainly her hot moist loins._ It was in the Navy and in '73, women were just starting to take the electronics courses, so they had to clean up the mnemonics. Hence _Bad boys race our young girls behind victory garden walls - get started now_ for resistor bands. Do electronics classes even teach transistor theory these days? Or vacuum tubes? I remember quite a few units covering vacuum tubes. Now get off my lawn!!! ---
**Author:** ![Rich\_G7subs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85e7bf/32.png) [@Rich\_G7subs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rich_G7subs)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-mnemonics/616675/31 "2012-03-26T21:36:16Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > I remember both versions (clean and dirty) to make a chart of the characteristics of transistors, altho I don’t recall exactly what all the rows are now. I think I can be forgiven, since I learned this in 1973 and haven’t needed it since that class. > > Bob … Eats … Carol’s > Vanilla … Pudding … In > A … Big … Glass > Liking .. Mostly … Her > Hot … Meat … Loaf > > The first line was Base - Emitter - Collector > Second was Voltage - Power - Current > And the last two were Low - Medium - High, then High - Medium - Low > > The dirty version was _Bob eats Carol’s virgin pussy in a big garage licking mainly her hot moist loins._ It was in the Navy and in '73, women were just starting to take the electronics courses, so they had to clean up the mnemonics. Hence _Bad boys race our young girls behind victory garden walls - get started now_ for resistor bands. > > Do electronics classes even teach transistor theory these days? Or vacuum tubes? I remember quite a few units covering vacuum tubes. Now get off my lawn!!! I learned this one in a Navy Electronics Class , too. “ELI the ICEman” “ELI” reminds you that the voltage (E) in an inductor (L) leads the current (I), and “ICE” reminds you that the current (I) in a capacitor (C) leads the voltage (E). ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-mnemonics/616675/32 "2012-03-27T02:06:38Z")
Toronto Girls Can Flirt And Other Quirky Things Canadians Do. Moh’s scale ---
**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-mnemonics/616675/33 "2012-03-27T02:46:15Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Not that they’re called north, east, south, and west- the order they’re in. A mnemonic to remember the _order_? North is the top of the map, east is the right. That’s hard enough to remember that it needs a mnemonic? Anyway: dessert, desert, which one is the last course of dinner? The one with two s’s, because you always want seconds. Principal, principle, which one runs your school? The one that’s your “pal”. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-mnemonics/616675/34 "2012-03-27T03:00:38Z")
Re: Kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species We learned “Kangaroos play checkers on fuzzy green squares.” Here’s one I still remember even though what it represents is now pretty much obsolete: (Let’s see if anyone else remembers it:) “Let’s Cook Textured Vegetable Protein” ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-mnemonics/616675/35 "2012-03-27T03:53:31Z")
Streets in the heart of Seattle: “Jesus Christ Made Seattle Under Protest”; Jefferson, James, Cherry, Columbia, Marion, Madison, Spring, Seneca, University, Union, Pike, Pine. Not exactly a mnemonic aid, but a college teacher once told us that when he told a class that he was tired of students confusing meiosis and mitosis cell division on exams, a student piped up and said “it’s easy: my toes is normal”. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-mnemonics/616675/36 "2012-03-27T04:01:39Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > “Every Angel Does Good, Besides Eddie.” Guitar strings, standard tuning. Low to high, or top to bottom if you and the guitar are right handed. “Every acid dealer gets busted eventually.” I had an old hippie for a guitar teacher. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-mnemonics/616675/37 "2012-03-27T06:17:45Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > Re: Kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species > > We learned “Kangaroos play checkers on fuzzy green squares.” Kim, please come over for good sex. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-mnemonics/616675/38 "2012-03-27T12:41:05Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Compass deviation: True Virgins Make Dull Companions. (True heading plus Variation equals Magnetic heading, plus Deviation equals Compass heading. ‘Plus’ means ±, depending on where you are.) > > I think this has changed since I learned it, but the SA report (weather) was: Can Vera Make Tom Dance Without Any Toes? (Ceiling, visibility, millibars, density, wind direction and speed, altimeter, trash (remarks)) I’vbe heard the original as **Timid Virgins Make Dull Company**. I’ve also heard it reversed as **Can Dead Men Vote Twice?**. There’s the mnemonic for the color bands on resistors: **Big Boys Race Our Young Girls But Violet Generally Wins** (Black, Brown, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Violet, Gray, White. Note that, except for Black and Brown at the beginning and Gray and White at the end, these are the rainbow colors ROY G BIV, without that annoying INdigo that nobody really knows. ) The risque, extremely non-PC version is **Bad Boys Rape Our Young Girls But Violet Gives Willingly**. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-mnemonics/616675/39 "2012-03-27T14:04:07Z")
One from my grandma, on how to spell “geography”: “George Earl’s oldest girl rode a pig home yesterday.” HOMES - the great lakes. Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior. There’s “a rat” in “separate”. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-mnemonics/616675/40 "2012-03-27T15:18:05Z")
In high school chemistry, we learned about two guys named Gerry and Leo. That was suppoed to help us remember that a GAIN in ELECTRONS is called REDUCTION (G.E.R.), while a LOSS in ELECTRONS is called OXIDATION (L.E.O.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-mnemonics/616675.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-mnemonics/616675.md?page=3)