# I'll just be over here playing with my Mneomic device. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 14, 2006, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-just-be-over-here-playing-with-my-mneomic-device/364492 "2006-07-14T17:24:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dottygumdrop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Dottygumdrop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dottygumdrop)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2006, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-just-be-over-here-playing-with-my-mneomic-device/364492/21 "2006-07-16T08:16:08Z")
I always remember **E** nvelopes are station **E** ry and **I** like compl **I** ments! ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2006, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-just-be-over-here-playing-with-my-mneomic-device/364492/22 "2006-07-16T12:38:28Z")
In grade school I was taught the mildly tittilating “Secretaries keep secrets.” I never could think of the “Prince and a pal” mnemonic for principal, but I remembered an episode of _Welcome Back, Kotter_ where the principal had a sign stuck to his back that said “Principals have no principles.” And thanks to Richard Price and my older brother (who had no concept of what was appropriate reading material for a six-year-old), I knew that my classmate was wrong about the origin of the name of two countries in West Africa. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2006, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-just-be-over-here-playing-with-my-mneomic-device/364492/23 "2006-07-16T12:50:57Z")
[QUOTE=saoirse] And thanks to Richard Price and my older brother (who had no concept of what was appropriate reading material for a six-year-old), I knew that my classmate was wrong about the origin of the name of two countries in West Africa. [/QUOTE] Which countries? ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2006, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-just-be-over-here-playing-with-my-mneomic-device/364492/24 "2006-07-16T15:30:22Z")
[QUOTE=Rilchiam] Which countries? [/QUOTE] In _The Wanderers_, Ricky Genarro is accused spraypainting “NIGERS STINK” [sic] at school. He proves his innocence to the principal by pointing out that he knows there’s two G’s in “nigger.” ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2006, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-just-be-over-here-playing-with-my-mneomic-device/364492/25 "2006-08-25T05:21:10Z")
(I hope a month and a half isn’t a bit much for a resurrection; I looked in ATMB and it said 3 months) One of the most important things I’ve found, and this might not work for you, is repetition. You do whatever pounds it in best for you, and do it over and over. Then take a break, and do it again. Then take a longer break, and do it again. The idea is to get to know it tentatively, and then be able to recall it under progressively more difficult circumstances. That’s how I’ve learned pi to 900 places. I seem to recall reading somewhere that different learning styles required different strategies for optimal memorization, but I’m not sure if repetition was exclusive to one of them or not. I would think it would work in general, but people tend to think that others share their biases and skills even if they try not to do so. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-just-be-over-here-playing-with-my-mneomic-device/364492.md?page=1)