# Weird and Unique Mnemonics **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 22, 2013, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-and-unique-mnemonics/648037 "2013-01-22T20:38:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2013, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-and-unique-mnemonics/648037/41 "2013-01-24T05:26:54Z")
I couldn’t remember which character was right and which was left when I first started Japanese. They’re the same except right has a box component and left has a capital I looking thing. Since the word for right is _migi_, I figured that a MiG (Russian fighter plane) would use a box for targeting rather than an I. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2013, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-and-unique-mnemonics/648037/42 "2013-01-24T07:45:55Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > The classic med student’s mnemonic for the cranial nerves: “On Old Olympus’ Towering Tops, A Fat-Assed German Vends His Hops”. Haven’t a clue what the nerves are, I just remember the phrase. Slightly wrong; it should be: “On Old Olympus’ Towering Tops, A Fat-Assed German Vends **SOME** Hops”. I learned it “…\*Viewed \*Some Hops”. (Olfactory, Optic, Oculomotor, Trochlear, Trigeminal, Abducens, Facial, Auditory, Glossopharyngeal, Vagus, Spinal, Hypoglossal.) But it’s not unique as per the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2013, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-and-unique-mnemonics/648037/43 "2013-01-24T08:10:16Z")
> [@Tamarin](#): > > Yep. Most in the USA. I don’t have to do tech support for anyone outside the US…yet. Fair enough. I checked and it seems nearly everyone else does it differently from this, though. Most seem to have the backslash to the right of the top row zero; a few (including UK) have it next to the left shift key. ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2013, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-and-unique-mnemonics/648037/44 "2013-01-24T09:47:23Z")
> [@standingwave](#): > > Stalac **T** ite and stalag **M** ite. I picture the **T** as hanging down from the cave ceiling and the **M** as standing up from the floor. Came up with this when I was a 12yo budding geologist only to find out later that the normal mnemonic is c for ceiling and g for ground. Think of an itchy girl with a infestation problem: If the **mites** go up, your **tights** go down… I once (In 1984, for 20 minutes) memorized the periodic table up to Zinc to the tune of Karma Chameleon. It made people look at me oddly when I took Organic Chemistry for my degree in 2005. Some of the rhymes are forced, but I know them really well, enough to sing along if I am listening to an oldies station! ---
**Author:** ![maisoui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@maisoui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maisoui)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2013, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-and-unique-mnemonics/648037/45 "2013-01-24T10:12:48Z")
When learning about the skeleton for something in high school I was able to remember that ligaments connect muscle to bone and tendons connect muscle to muscle because “tendon” and “muscle” have the same number of letters. Mucus is a noun. Mucous is an adjective. “Noun” is a shorter word than “adjective” so I remembered that the shorter word, mucus, is the noun. A couple of years ago when all the cold/cough medications (in Canada, anyway) started to advertise their “Cough and Mucous” formula, I was constantly telling the TV that they were using the wrong word… I did notice this year that they are calling it “Mucus” and I figure somebody complained over the TV’s head to a human being… :0) ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2013, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-and-unique-mnemonics/648037/46 "2013-01-24T16:27:26Z")
> [@BubbaDog](#): > > He probably overlooked that. But you have to forgive him since you overlooked post #6. And post 21.🙂 Go Dog, Go Bad Dog Open G tuning on a banjo. ---
**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 24, 2013, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-and-unique-mnemonics/648037/47 "2013-01-24T17:12:43Z")
> [@HubZilla](#): > > When I played safety in high school, I used to mix up my left and right. Got really embarrassing when I was supposed to shout “Strong Left” to announce which side had more players on the line. > > Coach grabbed me and told me to make an “L” with my hand and thumb. “L” for left! > > From then on, I’d hold up my hand and my friends would think it was some hand signal. It even carried on into college ball. The key to this is palms out. I knew someone who would do this palms in. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2013, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-and-unique-mnemonics/648037/48 "2013-01-24T18:22:01Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > And post 21.🙂 > > Go Dog, Go Bad Dog > Open G tuning on a banjo. You misspelled - Good-looking Dog, Goood-looking Bubba Dog You’re Welcome ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2013, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-and-unique-mnemonics/648037/49 "2013-01-24T19:41:23Z")
I was always partial to “Spectacles Testicles Wallet and Watch” - but I see in the current [Poll](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/poll.php?do=showresults&pollid=2455) in IMHO that it doesn’t work any longer ☹ ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2013, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-and-unique-mnemonics/648037/50 "2013-01-24T20:05:38Z")
I remember the difference between “affect” and “effect” because A comes before E. You have to affect something before you can have an effect. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2013, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-and-unique-mnemonics/648037/51 "2013-01-24T20:38:59Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > The gas cap is on the opposite side of my car as my wife’s car. I was forever pulling up to the wrong side of the gas pump until I finally figured out this mnemonic: > > On my car the gas cap is on MY side (driver side), on her car the gas cap is on HER side (passenger). It helps that I almost always drive when we are together, regardless of which vehicle we take. You realize, of course, that the [gas gauge icon](http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2012/05/09/dashboard_gas_gauge_arrows_what_do_they_indicate_.html) always shows which side the gas cap is on? Affect vs. Effect: Th **e E** ffect I always learned the clock tightens things. When you’re tightening, you’re going forward in time; when you’re loosening, you’re going backward in time to when they was no nut on the bolt. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2013, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-and-unique-mnemonics/648037/52 "2013-01-24T20:57:10Z")
There is always a rat in separate. ---
**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:** [January 24, 2013, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-and-unique-mnemonics/648037/53 "2013-01-24T21:07:06Z")
From my years in real estate, I remember the legal description of properties: the Biggest number is the Block; the Little number is the Lot and the Smallest number is the Sub-lot. ---
**Author:** ![maisoui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@maisoui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maisoui)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2013, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-and-unique-mnemonics/648037/54 "2013-01-24T21:23:15Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > There is always a rat in separate. Two "A"s s **e** p **a** r **a** t **e** two "E"s. – This may not be unique since a teacher taught it to me, but no one has ever heard it before when I say it. Using your left hand to make an “L” reminded me that if if you make a circle with your thumb and index finger on each hand, the left one makes a lower case “b” and the right one makes a lower case “d.” The B comes before the D reading your hands left to right, and B comes before D in the alphabet. When I volunteered in my kids’ classrooms, it helped a lot of early readers to know which side of the stick the ball goes on for each letter… “Which one is the “d,” again???” ---
**Author:** ![Furious\_Marmot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dfb087/32.png) [@Furious\_Marmot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Furious_Marmot)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2013, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-and-unique-mnemonics/648037/55 "2013-01-24T21:38:04Z")
The geologic time scale: Camels often sit down carefully, perhaps their joints creak, possibly early oiling might prevent painful rheumatism. This one includes the Cenozoic epochs, but has the disadvantage of lumping the Pennsylvanian and Mississippian together into Carboniferous. So, I had to remember that Pennsylvania is “above” Mississippi. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2013, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-and-unique-mnemonics/648037/56 "2013-01-24T21:41:54Z")
I don’t use this one myself (never had any reason to), but this thread immediately reminded me of Potsie’s [“Pump Your Blood”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_d0ykpzQgY) song from Happy Days 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2013, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-and-unique-mnemonics/648037/57 "2013-01-24T22:18:36Z")
My version of the whole port/starboard was “Red left port.” Most likely for nefarious purposes… The PC version of the resistor code is also Bad Beer Rots Our Young Guts But Vodka Goes Well, Get Smirnoff Now. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2013, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-and-unique-mnemonics/648037/58 "2013-01-24T22:24:39Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > You realize, of course, that the [gas gauge icon](http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2012/05/09/dashboard_gas_gauge_arrows_what_do_they_indicate_.html) always shows which side the gas cap is on? Always is such an infinate word. As difficult as it may be to beleive, neither of my vehicles has an arrow anywhere that indicates the location of the gas cap. Honest! It may be that, on the gas pump icon itself, the side that the handle is on correlates to the gas cap side. That holds true in one of my vehicles. I’ll check the other later. Doesn’t seem very intuitive, though. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-and-unique-mnemonics/648037/59 "2013-01-25T01:24:19Z")
Just thought of another: “How many cardinals are there in the ordinal position?” ---
**Author:** ![JpnDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@JpnDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JpnDude)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-and-unique-mnemonics/648037/60 "2013-01-25T07:27:24Z")
**Chip ‘n’ Dale** Chip --\> Chocolate Chip --\> Dark --\> Dark nose Dale has the red nose. Also, Chip is usually standing to the left of Dale. From left to right, “C” comes before “D”. Also, Chip has two teeth that look as one, while Dale has two teeth separated by a gap. “1” comes before “2”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-and-unique-mnemonics/648037.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-and-unique-mnemonics/648037.md?page=4)