# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504/61 "2012-09-04T06:15:00Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > Willie, Willie, Harry, Stee, > Harry, Dick, John, Harry Three. > One, two, three Neds; Richard Two; > Harry Four, Five, Six - then who? > Edward Four, Five; Dick the bad; > Harries twain and Ned the lad. > Mary, Bessie, James the vain, > Charlie, Charlie, James again. > William and Mary, Anna gloria, > Four Georges, William and Victoria. > Edward the Seventh next, and then > George the Fifth in nineteen-ten. > Edward the Eighth soon abdicated, > And so a George was reinstated. > QE2. I heard this years ago sing-songed out by a British physician friend. It stunned me. Do all English school kids learn it? At what age? > [@septimus](#): > > George and John and Tommy J. > Two Jims, a John, and Old Hickory A. > Marty, Willy, Johnny, and James. > Zachary and Millard (how 'bout those names!) > Frank and Jim led to Abraham’s Days; > Then Andrew, Ulysses, and R.B. Hayes. > James, Chester, Grover, and Ben. > Now don’t forget we had Grover again. > Willy Mac, Teddy, and a man named Taft > then Woody, Warren, and Calvin the Daft. > Herbie, Frankie, Harry and Ike; > John, Lyndon, Dickie (call him Tricky if you like); > Gerry, Jimmy, Ronnie and George; > A turn for Bill, then another George. > After that it was time for Barack; > November’s coming; will he be back? Nice work. Is this made up in response to the Brit one? I sensed something was off with the word “daft” and the “tricky Dick” not being likely in teaching kids. I wish I had had one when I was a kid. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504/62 "2012-09-04T06:51:37Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Nice work. Is this made up in response to the Brit one? I sensed something was off with the word “daft” and the “tricky Dick” not being likely in teaching kids. I apologize to any Coolidge fans. And to Mr. Tricky: he and Ford were better Presidents than any of the Republicans we’ve had since. ---
**Author:** ![Dereknocue67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Dereknocue67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dereknocue67)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504/63 "2012-09-04T08:55:39Z")
During my first weeks in the Air Force we were required to learn various ranks, including Generals. This meant we had to differentiate between one and four star Generals and used this very simple mnemonic sentence: Be my little general. Brigadier general Major General Lieutenant General General of the Air Force I have no idea why it stuck with me all these years. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504/64 "2012-09-04T09:25:54Z")
Previous threads (with mnemonics not listed in this one): [Previous thread #1](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=646144) [Previous thread #2](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=592737) [Previous thread #3](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=419595) [Previous thread #4](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=445460) [Previous thread #5](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=375364) etc. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504/65 "2012-09-04T11:16:29Z")
> [@maisoui](#): > > Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle - For order of sharps for key signature. My friend always preferred “Farts Cause Great Damage After Eating Beans.” ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504/66 "2012-09-04T11:58:30Z")
This one is super specific to those students who took 9th grade biology from Mr Kolis in the 1980s, but I use it still today. Kolis Plays Cards On Fridays and Gets Skunked Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Genus, Species ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504/67 "2012-09-04T12:55:41Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Found it. It’s the red and white lights next to the runway which help the pilot stay on the right approach path for landing (not too high, not too low). Yes. Sorry I didn’t come back to this until now. Strictly speaking, my mnemonic applies to a different type of glide path indicator, the name of which I couldn’t for the life of me remember last night: the [VASI](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_approach_slope_indicator). And I forgot the important last bit: “Red over white, you’re all right!” ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504/68 "2012-09-04T13:17:23Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > 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. For the above, I was taught, Oh heck, another hour of algebra. (However, the teacher insisted that it should be Oh Heaven, another hour of algebra.) Our high school’s version of “King Philip” went “King Philip caught old fish, got sick.” Before our biology teacher changed her name after marrying, it was “Karen Philips caught old fish, got sick.” ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504/69 "2012-09-04T13:48:45Z")
[QUOTE=SCAdian] **Bad boys rape our young girls but Violet gives willingly; get some now** (as learned by my brother at a Navy school in the '50s.) **Bad boys rob our young girls behind victory garden walls** (as learned by me at a Navy school in the '80s). [Colour coding](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_color_code#Resistor_color_coding) on resistors (electrical components). [/QUOTE] In the early 80’s, my brother taught me **Black boys rape only young girls behind victory garden walls**. No idea where he learned it, but it is useful for distinguishing black and brown. [QUOTE=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.) [/QUOTE] The one I learned is **Please do not throw sausage pizza away**. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504/70 "2012-09-04T14:22:31Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > May I have a large container of coffee. > > (digits of pi) I learned the classic one: How I need a drink, alcoholic of course, after the heavy lectures involving quantum mechanics. Fourteen digits to your eight. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504/71 "2012-09-04T14:41:08Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > This one is super specific to those students who took 9th grade biology from Mr Kolis in the 1980s, but I use it still today. > > Kolis Plays Cards On Fridays and Gets Skunked > > Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Genus, Species Kids, Please Come Over for Gay Sex. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504/72 "2012-09-04T14:46:59Z")
> [@tim-n-va](#): > > Kids, Please Come Over for Gay Sex. I am so [del]using[/del] NOT using this in my class this semester… ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504/73 "2012-09-04T14:57:48Z")
> [@tim-n-va](#): > > Kids, Please Come Over for Gay Sex. Ya know, in spite of all the things King Philip might have done, I’ll probably remember that one now. ---
**Author:** ![Vaevictis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f04885/32.png) [@Vaevictis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vaevictis)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504/74 "2012-09-04T14:58:12Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > 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. Thirty days hath September April June and November. All the rest have thirty-one, except February which has twenty-eight. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504/75 "2012-09-04T15:01:06Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > Previous threads (with mnemonics not listed in this one): > > [Previous thread #1](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=646144) > [Previous thread #2](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=592737) > [Previous thread #3](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=419595) > [Previous thread #4](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=445460) > [Previous thread #5](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=375364) > etc. Thank you. There’s great stuff there. ---
**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:** [September 4, 2012, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504/76 "2012-09-04T15:05:23Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > In a similar vein: “George Eckert’s old grandfather rode a pig home yesterday” - geography. My grandmother used “George Earl’s oldest girl”. Has a nice rhythm and rhyme to it. ---
**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, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504/77 "2012-09-04T15:36:14Z")
I just remembered another: **People can seldom make absolute zero in tests. Long hard concentration merits something good.** It is (a selective) version of the electrochemical series of metals, in order of decreasing electronegativity. Potassium Calcium Sodium Magnesium Aluminium Zinc Iron Tin Lead Hydrogen Copper Mercury (? or maybe Manganese) Silver Gold ---
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504/78 "2012-09-04T23:14:07Z")
> [@Vaevictis](#): > > Thirty days hath September > April June and November. > All the rest have thirty-one, > except February which has twenty-eight. I knew a version which had the line “Except February alone/ Which only has but 28 days clear/And 29 in each leap year.” ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504/79 "2012-09-05T03:06:59Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Since Pluto was denied “planethood”: > > My very extroverted maid just served us naked. Or, as Stephen Colbert had it: My very educated mother just said, “Uh-oh, no Pluto!” ---
**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 5, 2012, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504/80 "2012-09-05T03:18:40Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > the main spectral types of stars are in the order O B A F G K M In a 100 level astronomy class years ago, we actually held a contest for the best mnemonic. My entry (not the winning one): Out Back Australians Favor Grilled Kangaroo Meat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonic-sentences-examples-from-different-professions-and-studies/633504.md?page=5)