# Looking for clever mnemonic devices **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 16, 2006, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-clever-mnemonic-devices/380702 "2006-11-16T17:03:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-clever-mnemonic-devices/380702/41 "2006-11-17T03:59:51Z")
[QUOTE=Sternvogel] Jupiter got demoted as well? 😛 [/QUOTE] Heavens to Betsy! I have not that power. Nor the power of proofreading, apparently. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-clever-mnemonic-devices/380702/42 "2006-11-17T04:49:52Z")
The cranial nerves seem to be popular; the one I heard (I haven’t the faintest idea why, as I’ve never studied medicine) is On Old Olympus’s Towering Top, A Fat-Assed German Vends Spanish Hops. We had BEDMAS for order of operations. There were a couple good ones in French too: DR. MRS. VAN DER TRAMP, for example, for the verbs that take ĂȘtre in the passĂ© composĂ© instead of avoir. Then there was the song to the tune of “FrĂšre Jacques” for the adjectives that usually go before the noun: _Petit grand gros, joli beau/bon mauvais, bon mauvais/Premier dernier, jeune vieux nouveau/Lo-o-ong, lo-o-ong_. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-clever-mnemonic-devices/380702/43 "2006-11-17T04:51:11Z")
Oh, and one I’ve had occasion to use now and again: SOH CAH TOA for trigonometric functions. (Sine is opposite over hypotenuse; cosine is adjacent over hypotenuse; tangent is opposite over adjacent.) ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-clever-mnemonic-devices/380702/44 "2006-11-17T04:55:00Z")
Please Evade Mad Dogs And Skunks Parentheses, Exponent, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction And damn them for screwing up taxonomy, since I learned it thusly: Kinky People Come Over For Great Sex. Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species. Grandma taught me HOMES for the Great Lakes. CHNOPS (pronounced “schnapps”) for remembering the basic elements of life: carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorous (? I’m a little hazy on the “P”) and sulfur. Damned if I can remember my circle of fifths
no it isn’t “cats go down alleys
” either. It was pretty lecherous if I remember correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Plastic\_Soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@Plastic\_Soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plastic_Soul)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-clever-mnemonic-devices/380702/45 "2006-11-17T05:07:04Z")
Here’s one that proved useful when i was taking up Med Tech. I don’t remember the rest nor the right scientific term for these - _organ systems_? **C** irculatory **R** espiratory **E** ndocrine **M** uscular **I** **N** ervous **D** igestive **E** xcretory \*\*R \*\* **S** keletal ---
**Author:** ![williambaskerville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f14d63/32.png) [@williambaskerville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/williambaskerville)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-clever-mnemonic-devices/380702/46 "2006-11-17T06:38:20Z")
[QUOTE=Nanoda] There’s also “Richard Of York Gains Battles In Vain” for rainbow colours. [/QUOTE] I learned “Ring Out Your Great Bells In Victory” 
 but know the Richard one as well, for some odd reason. Guess I’ll never be stuck for the colours of the rainbow. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-clever-mnemonic-devices/380702/47 "2006-11-17T06:41:26Z")
A friend back in Japan had one for rememgering the dictionary order of the Japanese syllabary, but I could never remember the mnemonic. I never heard one for the Korean alphabet either. ---
**Author:** ![Mrs\_Johnson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7cd45c/32.png) [@Mrs\_Johnson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs_Johnson)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-clever-mnemonic-devices/380702/48 "2006-11-17T07:09:51Z")
I learned “ **K** ind **p** igs **c** ome **o** ver **f** or **g** ood **s** lop” ROY G BIV HOMES ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-clever-mnemonic-devices/380702/49 "2006-11-17T07:40:38Z")
MY LEGS = Contracts that must be in writing: Marriage: a promise the consideration for which is marriage; Year: a promise that cannot possibly be fully performed within one year; Land: a promise to buy or sell land; Executor: a promise by an executor to pay the debts of the decedent’s estate out of the executor’s own pocket; Goods: a promise to buy or sell goods for a price of $500 or more; and Suretyship: a promise made by a surety to a creditor to pay a debt that a debtor owes the creditor. There is another one I learned for the Bar Exam for contracts. Something about golf on Tuesdays. I think. It covered something like Offer Acceptance Consideration Performance Third-Party-Beneficiary Performance etc. etc. Damages, if anyone has heard of it, please chime in. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-clever-mnemonic-devices/380702/50 "2006-11-17T15:32:48Z")
My daughter’s guitar teacher taught her the names of the strings thusly: Eat A Dead Goat Before Easter. I just read Prisoner of Trebekistan: A decade in Jeopardy by Bob Harris, and he had a very amusing way of getting the novels of E.M. Forster stuck in his head. I believe he envisioned a giant male butt (Howard’s End) with a large hole in it (A Passage To India) which he was looking at through a window (A Room With A View). A great wind was blowing things around the room, through the window, and into the butt, making the room a place Where Angels Fear to Tread. Also caught in the wind was Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees (Maurice). It works for me too; I just did that from memory although I’ve never read any of those books. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-clever-mnemonic-devices/380702/51 "2006-11-17T17:07:15Z")
Classification of living things (in bottom-up order, unlike those above): So Good For Old Crippled People, Kellogg’s. ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-clever-mnemonic-devices/380702/52 "2006-11-17T19:36:27Z")
I didn’t see it yet, so
 BASMOQ +4 for the Canadian provinces & assorted bits. Weak, but the resistor color code was already taken. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-clever-mnemonic-devices/380702/53 "2006-11-17T20:02:00Z")
[QUOTE=Plastic Soul] Here’s one that proved useful when i was taking up Med Tech. I don’t remember the rest nor the right scientific term for these - _organ systems_? **C** irculatory **R** espiratory **E** ndocrine **M** uscular **I** **N** ervous **D** igestive **E** xcretory \*\*R \*\* **S** keletal [/QUOTE] **I** stands for [integumentary](http://www.sirinet.net/~jgjohnso/skin.html), while the second **R** is _reproductive_. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-clever-mnemonic-devices/380702/54 "2006-11-17T20:17:20Z")
[QUOTE=dwc1970] Does anyone have a mnemonic for classifying animals and plants? If I remember correctly, it goes: Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species. [/QUOTE] Mine was “Kitchen Police Can Order Frog Gut Stew”. Learned it once in 7th grade biology, and will never forget it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Punkyova](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@The\_Punkyova](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Punkyova)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-clever-mnemonic-devices/380702/55 "2006-11-17T20:22:34Z")
Papua New Guinea - when jumping your car, connect positive to positive, and negative to ground. (This comes in handy in Minnesota.) ---
**Author:** ![ASAKMOTSD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@ASAKMOTSD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASAKMOTSD)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-clever-mnemonic-devices/380702/56 "2006-11-17T21:00:04Z")
For those organic chemistry exams: Mary Had Purple Blueberry Pancakes Having Had Other Non-Delicacies = methyl, ethyl, propyl, butyl, pentyl, hexyl, heptyl, octyl, nonyl, decyl ---
**Author:** ![LilyoftheValley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@LilyoftheValley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilyoftheValley)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2006, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-clever-mnemonic-devices/380702/57 "2006-11-18T00:07:51Z")
I’m surprised at the number of you who learned: > [@](#): > > Bad boys rape our young girls but Violet gives willingly. I was taught it as “_Black_ Boys [etc
]” (with the warning from the TA that it was offensive
) I wonder if I’m older than the lot of you. ---
**Author:** ![Nic2004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4491bb/32.png) [@Nic2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nic2004)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2006, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-clever-mnemonic-devices/380702/58 "2006-11-18T03:36:15Z")
[QUOTE=matt\_mcl] Oh, and one I’ve had occasion to use now and again: SOH CAH TOA for trigonometric functions. (Sine is opposite over hypotenuse; cosine is adjacent over hypotenuse; tangent is opposite over adjacent.) [/QUOTE] We learned this one as: **O** ld **H** enry **A** lways **H** as **O** ld **A** pples ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2006, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-clever-mnemonic-devices/380702/59 "2006-11-18T04:06:08Z")
[QUOTE=PoorYorick] Er, my favorite got lost for some reason: “Never lower Tillie’s pants, mother might come home.” These are the eight carpal bones (the wrist), although two of the names are a bit archaic: Navicular (scaphoid), lunate, triquetrum, pisifom, multangular majus (trapezium), multangular minus (trapezoid), capitate, hamate [/QUOTE] In Rad Tech school we learned it as: Scary Lucy Tried Pitching Trapped Trainees Canned Hams Scaphoid, lunate, triquetrum, pisiform, trapezium, trapezoid, capitate, hamate (Note that the first _two_ letters of each word match the corresponding bone) ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2006, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-clever-mnemonic-devices/380702/60 "2006-11-18T16:59:56Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] From math: _How I wish I could recollect pi easily today._ The number of letters of each word gives us 3.14159265 Jim [/QUOTE] Now I - even I - would celebrate In rhymes unapt the great Immortal Syracusan rivaled\* nevermore Who in his wondrous lore Passed on before Gave men his guidance how to circles mensurate. {\*verdammt Amerikaner spelling, but it doesn’t work otherwise} 3.141592653589793238462643383279 If you need p to more than 30 dp I can’t help you. The “drink” one runs: “How I need a drink (alcoholic of course!) after the heavy chapters involving quantum mechanics” and gives you 3.14159265358979. “Standing drinks is splendid, man; a substitute for partial parties” - The order in which to try integration techniques: standard, direct, splitting, manipulation, substitution, partial fractions, integration by parts. Thank you, Brian McConnell, thirty years later I still remember the mnemonic (not so sharp on the actual integration, though). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-clever-mnemonic-devices/380702.md?page=2)