# Silly Mnemonics! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 12, 2011, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics/567335 "2011-01-12T13:18:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics/567335/41 "2011-01-13T08:58:58Z")
Ah. My wife is diabetic and takes two kinds of insulin, but they aren’t mixed together. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics/567335/42 "2011-01-13T10:06:15Z")
Kings Play Chess On Fine Grained Sand ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics/567335/43 "2011-01-13T10:32:50Z")
Just a guess… she may use a premixed insulin. Something that says 70/30 (most likely IME, though it may be 75/25 or 50/50) on it is a mixture of 70% NPH (slow) and 30% regular insulin (fast). So, same thing just less hassle. 🙂 A lot of health care facilities won’t use premixed insulins because they are more expensive but they’re common for home use. I’d guess the second one she takes is just straight regular insulin. I type slow when I’m baby-feeding, apparently; Paul’s post wasn’t there when I started typing! ---
**Author:** ![Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f19dbf/32.png) [@Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Only_Mostly_Dead)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics/567335/44 "2011-01-13T12:12:16Z")
> [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](#): > > TAH CAH SOH. This one saved my life many times over during mathematics papers. And I’m sure you pinned those 66% papers to your fridge in pride! (TOA, not TAH) ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics/567335/45 "2011-01-13T12:21:23Z")
> [@Only\_Mostly\_Dead](#): > > And I’m sure you pinned those 66% papers to your fridge in pride! > > (TOA, not TAH) Fortunately I’m not in school anymore! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics/567335/46 "2011-01-13T12:41:38Z")
Never Eat Soggy Waffles Lefty Loosey, Rightey Tightey and Your left hand making the shape of an L are three mnemonic devices that get used so often I’ve always been glad I never needed any of them. I never gave it much thought until I was a passenger in a car, in college and told the driver to make a right turn. I saw her very quickly ungrip the wheel so both of her hands were flat…“Rachel, did you just look at your hands to see which one made an L?” She did. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics/567335/47 "2011-01-13T13:28:22Z")
That reminds me of how I learned to remember how many days are in each month. (Hopefully this explanation makes sense without visual aids.) Make a fist with your left hand and touch the base knuckle of your pinky. That’s January. The little valley between that and the ring finger knuckle is February. The ring finger knuckle is March, the next valley is April, and so forth. The knuckles are months with 31 days and the valleys are months with 30 or fewer. When you get to your index finger, continue across to the index finger of your right hand – those are July and August, the two consecutive 31-day months. ETA: linky - [File:Month - Knuckles (en).svg - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Month_-_Knuckles_(en).svg) ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics/567335/48 "2011-01-13T15:15:27Z")
The strings of a guitar - **E** very **B** ad **G** irl **D** eserves **A** n **E** nema. Circle of fifth, going through sharps - **F** ather **C** harles **G** oes **D** own **A** nd **E** nds **B** attle. Circle of fifths, going through flats - **B** attle **E** nds **A** nd **D** own **G** oes **C** harles’ **F** ather. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics/567335/49 "2011-01-13T19:08:59Z")
[The Right Hand Rule](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-hand_rule), for vector sign conventions. Now, if someone can come up with a better name, to prevent students from using their _left_ hand when applying this rule, I’m sure many teachers would be very happy! I’m thinking of renaming it the “Right hand -no, not the left, your other hand - the _right_ hand - your other right Rule.” What do you think? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics/567335/50 "2011-01-13T19:25:22Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > [The Right Hand Rule](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-hand_rule), for vector sign conventions. > > Now, if someone can come up with a better name, to prevent students from using their _left_ hand when applying this rule, I’m sure many teachers would be very happy! > > I’m thinking of renaming it the “Right hand -no, not the left, your other hand - the _right_ hand - your other right Rule.” > > What do you think? :smack: Maybe add on to the end of that “-seriously, this is college f’n physics c’mon, rule” ---
**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 13, 2011, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics/567335/51 "2011-01-13T20:07:57Z")
You just have to remember pre-cambrian, but then it’s “Can Orville see down my pants pocket? Tom Jones can, Tom’s queer.” To remember if the cranial nerves are motor, sensory, or both, we had “Some say marry money, but my brother says bad boys marry money.” To remember which of mitosis or meiosis (properly pronounced my-oh-sis) produces _sex_ cells, it’s “my OH OH OH sis.” ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics/567335/52 "2011-01-13T21:50:52Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > That reminds me of how I learned to remember how many days are in each month. (Hopefully this explanation makes sense without visual aids.) > Make a fist with your left hand and touch the base knuckle of your pinky. That’s January. The little valley between that and the ring finger knuckle is February. The ring finger knuckle is March, the next valley is April, and so forth. The knuckles are months with 31 days and the valleys are months with 30 or fewer. When you get to your index finger, continue across to the index finger of your right hand – those are July and August, the two consecutive 31-day months. > > ETA: linky - [File:Month - Knuckles (en).svg - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Month_-_Knuckles_(en).svg) I learned which months had how many days by the phrase, “30 days in September, April, June, and November. All the rest have 31 (except for February of course).” Also, not a mnemonic, but when I think of all of the seasons and the order they’re in, I think of James Taylor singing them in “You’ve got a Friend” ---
**Author:** ![kath94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/67e7ee/32.png) [@kath94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kath94)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics/567335/53 "2011-01-13T22:48:24Z")
Here’s one that I just learned recently in my 4th decade: To remember which water glass or bread plate is yours, point your index fingers up and make a ring with the remaining fingers & your thumb on each hand. Your left hand will form a lower-case “b,” indicating that your **b** read plate is on \*that \*side, your left. Your right hand will form a lower-case “d,” telling you that your **d** rink glasses are on \*that \*side. I will never again commandeer my dining partner’s bread plate or water glass. Thanks, Ty! ---
**Author:** ![pendgwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3da27b/32.png) [@pendgwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pendgwen)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics/567335/54 "2011-01-14T00:06:49Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > To remember if the cranial nerves are motor, sensory, or both, we had “Some say marry money, but my brother says bad boys marry money.” I learned this as “Some say money matters but my brother says big boobs matter most.” ---
**Author:** ![Ambihelical\_Hexnut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4491bb/32.png) [@Ambihelical\_Hexnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambihelical_Hexnut)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics/567335/55 "2011-01-14T01:42:56Z")
I learned the trigonometric functions using The Cat Sat On An Orange And Howled Horribly. Arrange the nine initial letters into a 3 x 3 square like this: ```auto T C S O A O A H H ``` and read down the columns to get: tan = opposite / adjacent cos = adjacent / hypotenuse sin = opposite / hypotenuse For the first few digits of pi, I was taught “How I wish I could calculate pi”. ---
**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:** [January 14, 2011, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics/567335/56 "2011-01-14T03:34:24Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > The silliest one that I remember from school is the colours of the rainbow: Richard of York grew bananas in vain. Ah, I learnt it as: Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain… which isn’t as amusing but is perhaps more thematically consistent. 🙂 Or you can remember the colours in the opposite order with: Virgins In Bed Give You Odd Reactions. 😃 For Pi the rhyme I memorized years ago is: Sir, I bear a rhyme excelling In mystic force and magic spelling; Celestial sprites elucidate All my own striving can’t relate. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics/567335/57 "2011-01-14T03:57:38Z")
> [@kath94](#): > > Here’s one that I just learned recently in my 4th decade: > > To remember which water glass or bread plate is yours, point your index fingers up and make a ring with the remaining fingers & your thumb on each hand. Your left hand will form a lower-case “b,” indicating that your **b** read plate is on \*that \*side, your left. Your right hand will form a lower-case “d,” telling you that your **d** rink glasses are on \*that \*side. > > I will never again commandeer my dining partner’s bread plate or water glass. > > Thanks, Ty! I have to look this up EVERY time I have guests over for dinner. Never again! -D/a ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics/567335/58 "2011-01-14T04:19:46Z")
The solar system (as it was known in ~1980) Soon, Many Very Early Men Ate Juicy Steaks Using No Plates. I learned the directions as “Never Eat Sloppy Waffles.” Which amused the hell out of one of my magick teachers. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Onimous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@Ann\_Onimous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Onimous)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics/567335/59 "2011-01-14T13:51:21Z")
> [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](#): > > The solar system (as it was known in ~1980) > > Soon, Many Very Early Men Ate Juicy Steaks Using No Plates. So I suppose now it’s… Soon, Many Very Early Men Ate Juicy Steaks Using Nothing. (Pluto is TOO still a planet.) 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics/567335/60 "2011-01-14T14:40:15Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > I learned which months had how many days by the phrase, “30 days in September, April, June, and November. All the rest have 31 (except for February of course).” This never helped me because for some reason all I could remember was “30 days hath [a list of random months].” I guess I needed a mnemonic for the mnemonic! But then I leaned the knuckle thing and didn’t have to worry about it any more… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics/567335.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-mnemonics/567335.md?page=4)