# Mnemonics you've made up **URL:** \ **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:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonics-youve-made-up/930559/21 "2021-01-16T00:13:47Z")
Except when traitorous soldiers decide to desert. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonics-youve-made-up/930559/22 "2021-01-16T00:44:24Z")
> [@Paintcharge](#): > > Dessert has two ss’s. > Desert has one. Desert is Sand Dessert is Sweet Stuff ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonics-youve-made-up/930559/23 "2021-01-16T20:38:50Z")
D as in Dromedary has one hump; B in Bactrian has two. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonics-youve-made-up/930559/24 "2021-01-16T21:28:45Z")
The ranking of inherited English titles: “Do My Every Vile Bidding, Boy” (duke, marquess, earl, viscount, baron, baronet). The ranking of taxonomic categories: “King Phillip’s Class Orders Family-sized Generic Spices” (kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species). How to spell embarrass (because I could never remember how many r’s and how many s’s it had): “Having your ass exposed on the railroad is emba **rr** _ass_ing.” ---
**Author:** ![blabbermeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9a140/32.png) [@blabbermeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blabbermeister)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2021, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonics-youve-made-up/930559/25 "2021-01-16T21:55:19Z")
The four sides of a dreidel, including their meanings in the dreidel game. I was surprised how easy these were to remember. Gimel = “gimme” = take all Hei = “ **h** alf” = take half Nun = “none” = do nothing Shin = “sh\*\*” = pay one ---
**Author:** ![MrMrmrmr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrmrmrmr/32/5828_2.png) [@MrMrmrmr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrMrmrmr)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonics-youve-made-up/930559/26 "2021-01-17T01:22:56Z")
Forgot it ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonics-youve-made-up/930559/27 "2021-01-17T13:10:38Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > “Kings Play Chess On Fine Grained Sand” Mine is **Kings Play Chess On Fridays, Generally Speaking** > [@wolfpup](#): > > “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.) I simply equate “port” with “left” because they both have four letters. Also, to remember the order of the Presidents on Mt. Rushmore (hey, it may come up in trivia): Left to right it’s Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, Lincoln **Would Jesus Rake Leaves?** mmm ---
**Author:** ![blabbermeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9a140/32.png) [@blabbermeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blabbermeister)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonics-youve-made-up/930559/28 "2021-01-18T02:02:26Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I simply equate “port” with “left” because they both have four letters. How can we remember bow = front and stern = back? That’s harder and unintuitive because the “b’s” and the 5-letter words don’t match up ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonics-youve-made-up/930559/29 "2021-01-18T10:52:50Z")
Well, I never nailed that one. 🙂 Maybe remember that you wear a bow tie on the front of your body? And yo mama gives you a stern look before paddling your behind? mmm ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2021, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonics-youve-made-up/930559/30 "2021-01-22T02:01:42Z")
> [@blabbermeister](#): > > How can we remember bow = front and stern = back? That’s harder and unintuitive because the “b’s” and the 5-letter words don’t match up Go to the front and take a bow. Cher will sing _If I Could Stern Back Time._ ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2021, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonics-youve-made-up/930559/31 "2021-01-22T03:39:08Z")
One that helps me, anyway, is SEC for the order in which I put quiche ingredients into the pan. Sausage, eggs, and cheese. Southeastern Conference in sports. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2021, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonics-youve-made-up/930559/32 "2021-01-22T06:21:48Z")
> [@blabbermeister](#): > > How can we remember bow = front and stern = back? That’s harder and unintuitive because the “b’s” and the 5-letter words don’t match up To me it’s such extremely common usage that it doesn’t need any sort of mnemonic – it’s like knowing the difference between a mast and a rudder, or a mainsail and a jib. No doubt there are old salts for whom “port” and “starboard” are equally ingrained, but in pleasure boating I needed a helpful mnemonic device. ---
**Author:** ![Kimble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimble/32/19185_2.png) [@Kimble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimble)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2021, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonics-youve-made-up/930559/33 "2021-01-22T06:39:38Z")
The word “bow” is narrower than the word “stern,” just like the bow is typically narrower than the stern. One more I just remembered: Hurst dilators have a round tip, like the U in “Hurst.” Maloney dilators have a tapered tip, like the A in “Maloney.” ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2021, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonics-youve-made-up/930559/34 "2021-01-22T07:24:56Z")
One thing that drives me nuts is when people refer to the vulva as the vagina. No, you didn’t shave, bedazzle, or wax your vagina. The vag-IN-a is INside! ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2021, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonics-youve-made-up/930559/35 "2021-01-22T09:45:09Z")
Idaho counties are coded on license plats as A1-Ada, A2-Adams, etc. Six letters start only one county: K-N-I-V-E-S, which have a lone letter as county prefix. Kootenai, Nez Perce, Idaho, Valley, Elmore, Shoshone. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2021, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonics-youve-made-up/930559/36 "2021-01-22T09:49:27Z")
To remember Order-Family-Genus-Species, my wife named our cats Olaf and Gus. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2021, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonics-youve-made-up/930559/37 "2021-01-23T12:32:07Z")
I also came up with one to remember the countries of Central America in order, roughly north to south: Belize, Guatemala, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa rica, Panama. Benny Goodman Eats Honey Nut Cheerios, People. mmm [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mnemonics-youve-made-up/930559.md?page=1)