# Mnemonics you've made up
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonics-youve-made-up/930559
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [January 15, 2021, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonics-youve-made-up/930559 "2021-01-15T02:00:36Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@blabbermeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blabbermeister)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2021, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonics-youve-made-up/930559/1 "2021-01-15T02:00:36Z")
Not common ones like the order of the planets or “righty-tighty lefty-loosey” for the direction to twist a screw or a faucet handle. I mean ones you’ve made up yourself that could help others. Thank you.
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### Author:  [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2021, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonics-youve-made-up/930559/2 "2021-01-15T02:24:18Z")
In 4th grade, I learned about \< and \> for less than and greater than and remembered which was which because the smaller part of the sign points to the smaller number. Unfortunately then I wrote a few comparisons like
5
V
2
assuming that it worked vertically as well as horizontally, the smaller part of the “V” pointing to the smaller number.
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### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2021, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonics-youve-made-up/930559/3 "2021-01-15T04:40:44Z")
Gross anatomy requires a ton of memorization, at least it did when I was in med school.
I came up with a mnemonic so I could remember the names of the carpal (hand) bones. It honored an elderly spaniel of ours.
“Portia’s toes, long and scaly,
have corns, terrible and tremendous.”
(pisiform, triquetrum, lunate, scaphoid, hamate, capitate, trapezoid, trapezium).
\*there is a famous mnemonic dating back 100 years or more for remembering the cranial nerves. It has been sanitized in recent times, as it apparently is no longer acceptable to refer to fat-assed Germans.
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### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2021, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonics-youve-made-up/930559/4 "2021-01-15T04:45:09Z")
Not one that I came up with personally, but a high school classmate of mine came up with this mnemonic to remember how to calculate sines, cosines, and tangents. Forty years later, and I still remember it.
“Some old hens cackle and howl 'til old age.”
“Some old hens”: sine = opposite/hypotenuse
“Cackle and howl”: cosine = adjacent/hypotenuse
“'Til old age”: tangent = opposite/adjacent
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### Author:  [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2021, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonics-youve-made-up/930559/5 "2021-01-15T04:46:46Z")
Ok, I didn’t invent this one, but it always cracks me up.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qm7bgcRVhQ0)
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### Author:  [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2021, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonics-youve-made-up/930559/6 "2021-01-15T06:06:25Z")
During HSC Chemistry back in the 70s we were studying redox reactions when “The Aunty Jack Show” started and Aunty Jack’s [catch phrase](https://youtu.be/Al2nNixyFFg) became the mnemonic.
Oxidation: you rip it’s bloody electrons off.
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### Author:  [@Kimble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimble)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2021, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonics-youve-made-up/930559/7 "2021-01-15T06:20:35Z")
Closely related 10-year-old thread I remembered posting to about 5 years ago:
> [@Silly Mnemonics!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics/567335):
>
> Over in this [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=13345168), I mentioned that I use the mnemonic “Never Eat Soggy Waffles” to walk through the cardinal directions. As I was posting, I thought “wow…that sounds really silly…should I admit that?” A voice in my head said “Yes”. Granted, it’s 8:15am and I haven’t had any coffeeyet. I now ask you to join me in the freedom it’s brought me…by admitting your own silly mnemonics. Whatcha got? -D/a
My contribution then and now, for connecting jumper cables in the “right” way:
> DePP NuDGe – **D** ead car’s **P** ositive to **P** ositive; **N** egative to **D** ead car’s **G** round
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### Author:  [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2021, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonics-youve-made-up/930559/8 "2021-01-15T06:34:09Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#):
>
> Gross anatomy requires a ton of memorization, at least it did when I was in med school.
>
> I came up with a mnemonic so I could remember the names of the carpal (hand) bones. It honored an elderly spaniel of ours.
>
> “Portia’s toes, long and scaly,
> have corns, terrible and tremendous.”
>
> (pisiform, triquetrum, lunate, scaphoid, hamate, capitate, trapezoid, trapezium).
>
> \*there is a famous mnemonic dating back 100 years or more for remembering the cranial nerves. It has been sanitized in recent times, as it apparently is no longer acceptable to refer to fat-assed Germans.
There was some cranial nerve mnemonic that was recited on **St. Elsewhere** once that had my father (gross anatomy professor) snarling because he said it didn’t teach the order.
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### Author:  [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2021, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonics-youve-made-up/930559/9 "2021-01-15T06:39:14Z")
The only ones I’ve made up:
I’m a Dr. to help remember the dependent and independent variables in an experiment. _D_ependent is _r_esponding and _i_ndependent is _m_anipulated.
Can’t remember whether mitosis or meiosis produces the _sex_ cells? It’s mei OH OH OH sis! (OK, I taught high school biology but never told that one to my students!)
Who is the phos phor? US!
For spelling phosphorus correctly. The kids always wanted to add in an extra “U” or two, but didn’t have any troubles with the _ph_ parts.
Also, there is NO flour in fluorine! (or fluorescent)
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### Author:  [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2021, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonics-youve-made-up/930559/10 "2021-01-15T07:13:20Z")
“Communists drink wine” = facing forward, the **port** side of a boat is the **left** , and starboard is the right. I owned a cruising sailboat for a time, and had to invent that to remember. (The allusion is ancient, and in modern times boats seem to dock at least as often on the starboard side – e.g.- the Titanic, in the movie of the same name, but also I believe in old newsreel footages.)
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### Author:  [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2021, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonics-youve-made-up/930559/11 "2021-01-15T07:21:51Z")
In high school biology class, my seat mate and I came up with the following taxonomy almost-mnemonic:
**K** elly, File **C** lass **O** rder **F** or **G** roup **S** ex (File sounding like Phylum). Yes, there was a very hot girl named Kelly in the class.
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### Author:  [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2021, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonics-youve-made-up/930559/12 "2021-01-15T13:56:22Z")
Back when I was a graphic artist, for remembering standard guitar tuning:
‘Every Artist Does Good Business Everyday’
Works as a mnemonic device, but unfortunately, hardly true as a factual statement.
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### Author:  [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2021, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonics-youve-made-up/930559/13 "2021-01-15T14:06:38Z")
Reign vs rein
A king reings
A horse has reins.
When you get the two confused, the one with the G in it is the one that means “to rule over”.
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### Author:  [@blabbermeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blabbermeister)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2021, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonics-youve-made-up/930559/14 "2021-01-15T18:21:44Z")
Deductive vs. inductive reasoning - how to remember which is which? **IN** duction means “ **IN** fact”. As in: “This crow is black; this crow is black; _in fact,_ all crows are black.”
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### Author:  [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2021, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonics-youve-made-up/930559/15 "2021-01-15T18:27:43Z")
Not one I made up but the best one I’ve heard
Toronto girls can flirt and other quirky things Canadians do.
Moh’s scale
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### Author:  [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2021, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonics-youve-made-up/930559/16 "2021-01-15T19:24:57Z")
I thought of another one-- When discussing international events whenever North Korea was in the news, I kept having trouble remembering, between Kim Jong-Il and Kim Jong-Un, who was the father who died awhile back, and who was the son currently in power. So I came up with this handy mnemonic:
Kim Jong-IL got IL and died.
Kim Jong-UN is the UN-ly one left.
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### Author:  [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2021, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonics-youve-made-up/930559/17 "2021-01-15T20:35:30Z")
> [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](#):
>
> **K** elly, File **C** lass **O** rder **F** or **G** roup **S** ex (File sounding like Phylum). Yes, there was a very hot girl named Kelly in the class.
I didn’t make it up, but a beautiful one for that is
“Kings Play Chess On Fine Grained Sand”
Another one I didn’t make is for digits of pi:
“Now, I have a rhyme assisting my feeble brain its tasks resisting”.
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### Author:  [@blabbermeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blabbermeister)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2021, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonics-youve-made-up/930559/18 "2021-01-15T20:36:11Z")
> [@solost](#):
>
> Kim Jong-IL got IL and died.
>
> Kim Jong-UN is the UN-ly one left.
That’s fantastic! Exactly the type of thing I hope people will post in this thread.
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### Author:  [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2021, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonics-youve-made-up/930559/19 "2021-01-15T21:01:42Z")
Dessert has two ss’s.
Desert has one.
The one you want more of has more ss’s.
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### Author:  [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2021, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonics-youve-made-up/930559/20 "2021-01-15T23:07:37Z")
I’ve always used mnemonics to remember my vehicle’s license plate ID. In my state we get new plates every 7 years, whether we need them or not. I started doing this long before the advent of cell phones with cameras and I’m not likely to stop. My first car’s license was BUP 168, which I chose to remember as “bupkis”. A recent one started with LBL, which I remember as “Long Beach Lover”, not because I love Long Beach itself, but because I did business there and visited at least annually and it fit the license.
I tend to do similar mnemonics with surnames that have unique spellings or pronunciations.
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