# Silly mnemonics to remember things you ought to know anyway **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 15, 2000, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics-to-remember-things-you-ought-to-know-anyway/22463 "2000-06-15T11:20:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![brachyrhynchos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brachyrhynchos/32/376_2.png) [@brachyrhynchos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brachyrhynchos)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics-to-remember-things-you-ought-to-know-anyway/22463/61 "2000-06-20T00:22:39Z")
TaleraRis (and others) said: > [@](#): > > \*\* > King Phillip Came Over From Germany Stoned - Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species - and yes, that is exactly how my teacher taught us > \*\* I learned this as: Kindly Pay Cash Or Find Good Substitute. Pretty boring, but I still use it. ---
**Author:** ![kinoons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a698b9/32.png) [@kinoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kinoons)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics-to-remember-things-you-ought-to-know-anyway/22463/62 "2000-06-20T01:36:43Z")
um, lets see her, just a few EMT’s use A - airway B - breathing C - circulation P - pain Q - quality R - radiation S - severe T - time of onset A - allergies M - medications P - pain L - last oral intake E - events leading up to C - chief compliant H - history A - assessment R - treatment(rx) T - transport ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics-to-remember-things-you-ought-to-know-anyway/22463/63 "2000-06-20T03:35:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > And there were never very many times when I needed to know more than about 3.14 … > \*\* Ahh… just round to 3, it’s close enough 🙂 OTOH, if you really need more digits… and if I can recall it correctly… PI to 20 places: Sir, I bear a rhyme excelling in mystic force and magic spelling celestial spirits elucidate all my own telling can’t relate. ---
**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:** [June 20, 2000, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics-to-remember-things-you-ought-to-know-anyway/22463/64 "2000-06-20T05:04:23Z")
Que j’aime à faire apprendre un nombre utile aux sages! Immortel Archimède, artiste ingénieur, Qui de ton jugement peut priser la valeur? Pour moi, ton problème eut de pareils avantages. …count up the letters in each word (remember that j’aime is two words). ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics-to-remember-things-you-ought-to-know-anyway/22463/65 "2000-06-20T09:30:02Z")
Okay, it’s not really a mnemonic, but I use the knuckles on my hand to remember which months have 31 days. Here goes: Curl your hands into two fists, and put your hands together, back of your hands toward your face. You should be looking at the “bumps” and “valleys” where your fingers meet the hand. Okay. January has 31, so it’s the bump of your left pinky. February has 28, so it’s the little valley between your left pinky and left ring finger. March has 31, so it’s the bump of your left ring finger. April has 30, so it’s the next valley, and so forth. Just alternate valleys and bumps counting by the months. July and August both have 31 days, so they’ll be the bumps of both your pointy fingers. Trust me, it works. ---
**Author:** ![Cynical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5fc32e/32.png) [@Cynical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cynical1)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics-to-remember-things-you-ought-to-know-anyway/22463/66 "2000-06-20T12:30:14Z")
For the OSI model: A Particularly Simple Type of Network Design PLEASE! ---
**Author:** ![Kiva](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/d78d45/32.png) [@Kiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiva)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics-to-remember-things-you-ought-to-know-anyway/22463/67 "2000-06-20T19:06:11Z")
> [@](#): > > Just alternate valleys and bumps counting by the months. July and August both have 31 days, so they’ll be the bumps of both your pointy fingers. > > Trust me, it works It does, but it seems a lot more complicated than just memorizing “30 days has September, April, June and November–all the rest have 31, except for February, blah blah blah” ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2001, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics-to-remember-things-you-ought-to-know-anyway/22463/68 "2001-02-19T19:32:22Z")
Wow- however did I miss this thread? My mnemonic for remembering the resistor color code: **B** ad **B** oys **R** ape **O** ur **Y** oung **G** irls **B** ut **V** iolet **G** ives **W** illingly. For the OSI reference model (from the bottom up): **P** lease **D** o **N** ot **T** hrow **S** ausage **P** izza **A** way. And for remembering vector relationships between current and voltage in inductive & capacitive circuits (this one is complicated; hang on tight): **ELI** the **ICE** man: (supposedly a well known song from a thousand years ago, but it works for me anyway). Where **E** represents voltage, **I** represents current, **L** stands for an inductive circuit and **C** for a capacitive circuit. Hence: _E **L** I_ means in an inductive circuit the voltage leads the current by 90°, and _I **C** E_ means in a capacitive circuit the voltage lags the current by 90°. I knew you’d be impressed. Now go be the life of some party somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![soulsling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@soulsling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soulsling)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2001, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics-to-remember-things-you-ought-to-know-anyway/22463/69 "2001-02-19T20:01:29Z")
The Planets: (as I was tought early on…) My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pickles. ---
**Author:** ![Soda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@Soda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soda)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2001, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics-to-remember-things-you-ought-to-know-anyway/22463/70 "2001-02-19T20:42:16Z")
You missed the best one! Sado-masochistic barbecue - SMBBQ: Staten Island, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2001, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics-to-remember-things-you-ought-to-know-anyway/22463/71 "2001-02-19T21:35:22Z")
I’ve always used the names of the planets as their own mnemonic – no need for mothers making sandwiches or any of that. And I can sing the names of the 50 states **in alphabetical order** to the tune of “Fifty Nifty United States” from _Let George Do It_, the American Revolution-themed musical play that we performed in the second grade. It was my best Stupid Human Trick for a long time, but now that I’m a copyeditor it comes in handy when I run across a list of addresses or organizations by state in a manuscript. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2001, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics-to-remember-things-you-ought-to-know-anyway/22463/72 "2001-02-19T22:14:14Z")
Mother Very Thoughtfully Made A Jelly Sandwich Under No Protest. (The “A” is the asteroid belt). ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2001, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics-to-remember-things-you-ought-to-know-anyway/22463/73 "2001-02-19T22:15:46Z")
Damn it Scarlett67, I thought I was going to get to be the first one to mention “Fifty Nifty United States”, but on the LAST post before I ring in there you are! I have another geography mnemonic :George eats old gray rats and paints houses yellow. ---
**Author:** ![bluecanary](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bluecanary/32/3614_2.png) [@bluecanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bluecanary)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2001, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics-to-remember-things-you-ought-to-know-anyway/22463/74 "2001-02-19T23:40:32Z")
“Never separate a para from his parachute” (to spell sep **a** rate) “Please Stop Cars Motorbikes and Zebras Invading Tiny Leicester City, Making Sausage Gravy Pink” [:)] For the reactivity series of metals **F** e **MA** le Force = Mass \* Acceleration **D** e **ST** ination Distance = Speed \* Time Yes, I use **SOHCAHTOA** still now as well ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2001, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics-to-remember-things-you-ought-to-know-anyway/22463/75 "2001-02-20T13:34:10Z")
Remembering how to set a table: fork and left both have four letters, so the fork goes on the left. Spoon, knife, and right all have five letters, so the spoon and knife go on the right. I can also spit out my company’s tax i.d. # without thinking cause I came up with a code for it. Impresses the hell out of people who ask for it. But I’m not posting that here. ---
**Author:** ![LazarusLong42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@LazarusLong42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LazarusLong42)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2001, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics-to-remember-things-you-ought-to-know-anyway/22463/76 "2001-02-20T15:08:02Z")
I’m surprised no one tosed this one in here. My high school chem teacher gave us: “Have No Fear Of Ice CoLd BeeR.” The capitalized letters are the seven elements (hydrogen, nitrogen, fluorine, oxygen, iodine, chlorine, bromine) which form autodiatomic molecules in nature. LL [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics-to-remember-things-you-ought-to-know-anyway/22463.md?page=3)