# Mnemonic sentences: examples from different professions and studies **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 3, 2012, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504 "2012-09-03T01:46:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504/41 "2012-09-03T20:34:47Z")
I use SOH CAH TOA all the time at work. Right angle trig made simple. SOH: The sine of an angle in the triangle is = opp. side length/ hyp. length. CAH: cosine…adjacent/hyp TOA: tangent…opp/adj. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504/42 "2012-09-03T20:53:49Z")
For “Kingdom., Phylum, etc” we learned “King Phillip Came Over From Germany Stoned”. Was there a slightly different one, maybe for plants? ---
**Author:** ![Bilbo1967](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@Bilbo1967](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bilbo1967)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504/43 "2012-09-03T21:06:13Z")
Richard of York gave battle in vain. For the colours of the rainbow; red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504/44 "2012-09-03T21:18:17Z")
> [@digs](#): > > For “Kingdom., Phylum, etc” we learned “King Phillip Came Over From Germany Stoned”. Was there a slightly different one, maybe for plants? The one I’ve heard was “King Philip Crossed Over From Geneva, Switzerland.” ---
**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:** [September 3, 2012, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504/45 "2012-09-03T21:21:54Z")
Navigational light colors for vessels: There’s no red port wine left. The red light goes on the left of your vessel, and left is called “port”. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504/46 "2012-09-03T21:30:22Z")
> [@digs](#): > > For “Kingdom., Phylum, etc” we learned “King Phillip Came Over From Germany Stoned”. Was there a slightly different one, maybe for plants? I don’t recall one, but the only difference in plant classification is the use of “Division” instead of “Phylum.” So you would just have to substitute a name beginning with “D” for Phillip. ---
**Author:** ![IceQube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@IceQube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IceQube)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504/47 "2012-09-03T21:39:30Z")
> [@digs](#): > > For “Kingdom., Phylum, etc” we learned “King Phillip Came Over From Germany Stoned”. Was there a slightly different one, maybe for plants? Yes, and no, King Philip Came Over For Great Sex. ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504/48 "2012-09-03T21:59:40Z")
> [@BobArrgh](#): > > It is often easier to remember a pictorial sequence than arbitrary words. Take for example, the sentence, “My very educated mother just made us nine pies”, which is used for remembering the planets from the sun outward. A person might create the mental image of a lady wearing a mortarboard pulling a tray containing 9 pies out of the oven. Looking out the window beyond her, you might see the sun and the planets lined up. > > An absurd picture like that, coupled with the phrase, can help to make it stick in your mind. It’s possible to use these methods with the actual elements you are trying to memorize. For instance, picture the winged sandals of Mercury on the feet of the Venus di Milo with her balancing Earth-From-Space on her head while she eats a Mars bar, etc. (I think they gave up on this and substituted unrelated mnemonics because they couldn’t tastefully give children a mental picture of Uranus ;).) I read about this system a long time ago and use it a lot. I remember it was suggested in the article or book I was reading that, as you mentioned, the most absurd combinations were the most effective. I think the song and poem mnemonics like “Do, a Deer” or “Thirty Days Hath September” work because they engage other brain activities to support the memory. I think in visual images or lists of words, but I _hear_ rhythm and melody. The more routes to the information you have, the more successful you’ll be at retrieving it. ---
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504/49 "2012-09-03T22:05:25Z")
King Henry Dreamt My Dog Caught Mumps. Kilo, Hecto, Deca, Metre, Deci, Centi, Milli. On the introduction of metric measurements. Gram and Litre could be suitably fitted in, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504/50 "2012-09-04T00:07:08Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > She made Harry eat onions. (Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, Ontario–the Great Lakes) The more common one is HOMES. > [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > In grade school they taught us: > All Cows Eat Grass -or- > All Cars Eat Gas. > It has something to do with the order of notes on some scale, but they never taught us that part. These are the letter names of the notes on the spaces of the bass clef. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504/51 "2012-09-04T00:08:49Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > **P** rogrammers **D** are **N** ot **T** hrow **S** alty **P** retzels **A** way. – > The 7-level OSI network layers model: > Physical, Data Link, Network, Transport, Session, Presentation, Application. > (There are other similar mnemonics too, some giving them in the opposite order.) The one I always use is in the reverse order: All People Seem To Need Data Processing. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504/52 "2012-09-04T00:24:16Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Because human memory just does not work that way. As numerous experimental studies have shown, people are very bad at remembering arbitrary seeming lists of words, especially when they have to be kept in order. It can be done, but it takes a lot of time and dull repetitive work, repeating the list over and over to yourself. People are _much_ better at remembering meaningful sentences, or, indeed, anything that forms a single meaningful unit. Often they only have to hear it once and will remember it for years. I realize it’s an effective tool for memorization, but I beg to differ that these are arbitrary seeming lists of words. These are things you’re supposed to KNOW. Saying some nursery rhyme to help you memorize terminology isn’t learning, it’s just painting by numbers. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504/53 "2012-09-04T00:38:04Z")
I never heard the King Philip mnemonic for taxonomy. Nowadays we have Domain above kingdom, so the mnemonics I’ve heard have had a D word appended to them. (Dumb) Kings Play Chess On Fine Green Sand (Dumb) Kids Play Catch Over Farmers’ Green Sections (Dear) Kevin, Please Come Over For Gay Sex (Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species) ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504/54 "2012-09-04T01:13:05Z")
> [@maisoui](#): > > Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle - For order of sharps for key signature. > > - conversely - > > Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles’ Father - For order of flats. Similarly: Fat Charlie Gets Donuts After Eating Breakfast Breakfast Eating After Donuts Gets Charlie Fat ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504/55 "2012-09-04T01:20:02Z")
Medical ones that actually stuck with me were the cranial nerves (dirty version but last two words are “Ah, heavenly” (Accessory, Hypoglossal), NAVaL (inguinal structures lateral to medial (Nerve, Artery, Vein, Lymphatic)) and US Runs Deep (nerves in the hand (ulnar-superficial, radial-deep)). ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504/56 "2012-09-04T01:23:34Z")
> [@An\_Arky](#): > > I realize it’s an effective tool for memorization, but I beg to differ that these are arbitrary seeming lists of words. These are things you’re supposed to KNOW. Saying some nursery rhyme to help you memorize terminology isn’t learning, it’s just painting by numbers. They absolutely are are arbitrary _seeming_ when you first try to learn them, and, in many cases, they really are, to all intents, arbitrary, bearing no real relationship to the underlying structure of the knowledge domain. The fact (to take just one possible example) that the main spectral types of stars are in the order O B A F G K M is not something that follows from the underlying facts of astronomy, but rather is a convention that reflects the history of how the classification was arrived at. If astronomers were designating spectral types now, with our modern understanding of stellar physics and evolution, they would probably call the types, in order, A B C D E F G, but, as with the QWERTY keyboard, it is too late for that now. From the point of view of astrophysical theory, the ordering of the letters\* is\* completely arbitrary, and the only way to learn it is either by rote or by mnemonic. The mnemonic is much more efficient and reliable. (Heck! I am not an astronomer. I don’t need to know that information, yet I have remembered it ever since I first read about the mnemonic, about 50 years ago.) Likewise, there is no particular reason why, in biological classification, one particular word for a group of similar things, such as order, or phylum, should be used to refer to a higher level grouping than some other word for such a group, such as family or genus. The way the terms are attached to the underlying hierarchical structures is essentially an arbitrary convention, and just has to be memorized. A mnemonic is a good tool for doing that. Even in cases where there is an underlying meaningful pattern, as in the notes belonging to each line of the stave, it makes much more sense to memorize the mnemonic than to laboriously work it out from first principles each time. Of course, once you get to be an expert musical sight-reader, you do not need to recall the mnemonic all the time, but that in itself is just a matter of memory due to frequent use. In any case, it takes long time and practice to get to that point, and while you are getting there it is much more efficient to use the mnemonic than to try to rote learn (let alone to work it out every time). ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504/57 "2012-09-04T03:48:32Z")
> [@bashere](#): > > Sailing: True Virgins make dull companions; add whiskey. > > Does this one count: “Red over Red/Captain is Dead (or In Bed)”? It doesn’t stand for anything; two red lights on the mast mean vessel is not under command. Or “Red, right, returning”? Keep the red harbour lights on your right when returning to your slip. Or “How much red port is left?” The lines and lights on the left (port) side of a vessel are red. You have to know these in aviation as well. The version I learned was Can Ducks Make Vertical Turns? Variation east, magnetic least, was a separate memory aide equivalent to the “add whiskey” portion of yours. My simple memory aide for red/port/left is just that each of the words has fewer letters than its counterpart; red/green, port/starboard, and left/right. The before take-off checks when I was learning to fly were Too Many Fat Flying Instructers Have Crash Landings. [ul] [li]T - Trims and throttle friction checked, temps and pressures green. [/li][li]M - Mixture rich[/li][li]F - Flaps set[/li][li]F - Fuel on and correct tank, contents checked, primer locked. [/li][li]I - Ignition on both, Instruments checked. [/li][li]H - Harnesses and hatches (doors/windows) secured. [/li][li]C - Controls checked. [/li][li]L - Lookout (here I come!) for aircraft and obstacles before moving.[/li][/ul] Flight checks are now done as geographical scans backed up by a checklist, so rather than remembering a list of things to do, I remember a sequence of actions in the cockpit. The checklist is used to confirm the actions have been completed. If I want to remember the actions while not in the cockpit, I find I have to visualize the scan. LOANS generator, FIRES fuel, and BFR are to help remember the services operated by the two hydraulic systems in the BAe 146 jet. The green hydraulics operate the: [ul] [li]Landing gear[/li][li]Outboard ground spoilers[/li][li]Anti-skid[/li][li]Nose wheel steering[/li][li]Standby generator[/li][/ul] The yellow hydraulics operate the: [ul] [li]Flap asymmetry brakes[/li][li]Inboard lift spoilers[/li][li]Roll spoilers (both)[/li][li]Emergency landing gear extension[/li][li]Standby fuel pumps[/li][/ul] Both systems operate the: [ul] [li]Brakes[/li][li]Flaps[/li][li]Rudder[/li][/ul] The BFR bit is easy to remember because a BFR, or biennial flight review, is a proficiency check that private pilots have to do. Most pilots are very familiar with the term even if they don’t have to do a BFR themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504/58 "2012-09-04T03:59:20Z")
Post edit window: I’ve never managed to remember the number of days in each month. The rhyme has always seemed to be: Thirty days hath… [list of months that I can’t remember] All the rest have thirty one except February… [that we know all about anyway and don’t need to remember] If I could remember the initial list of thirty day months I wouldn’t need the rhyme, but without remembering that line the rhyme is useless to me. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504/59 "2012-09-04T04:30:58Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > I’ve never managed to remember the number of days in each month. All you need for this is your fist (I was taught this when I was probably 2, and still use it) Put your fist out, knuckles facing up. Start counting from leftmost knuckle, including the dips between knuckles. First knuckle is Jan - 31 days (up). Dip is February, 28/29 days (dip) Second knuckle is March - 31 days (up). Next dip is April - 30 days (dip) - until you get to rightmost knuckle - July - 31 days (up). Then you switch to the leftmost knuckle again - August - 31 days (up).. etc. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504/60 "2012-09-04T05:39:20Z")
Thanks. I know the fist method, I meant to say that I’ve never been able to remember the number of days in the month using the rhyme. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504.md?page=4)