# What spelling "sentance" you still use as an adult ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 20, 2015, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-spelling-sentance-you-still-use-as-an-adult/738070 "2015-11-20T12:41:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2015, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-spelling-sentance-you-still-use-as-an-adult/738070/21 "2015-11-22T16:35:08Z")
I don’t believe that I ever learned sentences like this to help with the spelling of words. I did learn things like Roy G. Biv, Every Good Boy Does Fine, Good Boys Do Fine Always (that’s the lines of the bass clef staff), and so forth, but that’s a bit different in my mind. That “the principal is your pal” thing caused me more errors than it solved, because I internalized it that only the top administrator of a school has the -pal ending, and all other uses should be -ple. This leads to errors like writing about “the principle rule” or “the principle source of information.” Teachers everywhere, I beg of you: Stop saying “The principal is your pal.” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2015, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-spelling-sentance-you-still-use-as-an-adult/738070/22 "2015-11-22T18:18:19Z")
> [@WildBlueYonder](#): > > Isnt there a term for this kind of thing? Mnemonic. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2015, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-spelling-sentance-you-still-use-as-an-adult/738070/23 "2015-11-22T19:18:23Z")
I remember learning: Martha Visits Every Monday and Just Stays Until Noon, Period. for the order of the planets. The “and” was the asteroid belt. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2015, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-spelling-sentance-you-still-use-as-an-adult/738070/24 "2015-11-23T00:34:36Z")
From my mother: George Eaton’s Old Grandfather Rode A Pig Home Yesterday. I never thought “geography” was that hard to spell, myself. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2015, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-spelling-sentance-you-still-use-as-an-adult/738070/25 "2015-11-23T00:45:18Z")
Theres a wedding on Wednesday. helps me remember Wedn starts that word. It used to trip me up as a kid. Probably because the N isn’t strongly heard. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2015, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-spelling-sentance-you-still-use-as-an-adult/738070/26 "2015-11-23T01:02:41Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Theres a wedding on Wednesday. > > helps me remember Wedn starts that word. It used to trip me up as a kid. Probably because the N isn’t strongly heard. I assume you mean the “D,” as, in my dialect and most (if not all) of the American ones I’ve heard, the “D” is not pronounced at all, while the “N” is heard. Yeah, that’s one that I always say as “WED-nes-day” to myself when I’m writing or typing it out. (Actually, is the “D” pronounced in any English dialects currently? I can’t seem to think of any offhand.) ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2015, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-spelling-sentance-you-still-use-as-an-adult/738070/27 "2015-11-23T01:11:12Z")
yes, the D. wedding helped me remember it and the N. like you, I say “WED-nes-day” to spell it. ---
**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:** [November 24, 2015, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-spelling-sentance-you-still-use-as-an-adult/738070/28 "2015-11-24T20:00:38Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Conversely, I rember “desert” lacks an extra S because it’s too desolate to grow an extra one. In English class, I always enjoyed pointing out that one can desert one’s post. Irritated some of the teachers. There is a rat in separate. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-spelling-sentance-you-still-use-as-an-adult/738070/29 "2015-11-24T20:21:23Z")
I could never remember whether the second vowel in “separate” was an “a” or an “e” until I figured out that I could break them into three separate Spanish words. So in my head, it’s always “se para te.” Which doesn’t make any sense as a sentence, but I always spell it right, now. ---
**Author:** ![MrSBaldrick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/87869e/32.png) [@MrSBaldrick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrSBaldrick)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-spelling-sentance-you-still-use-as-an-adult/738070/30 "2015-11-25T03:09:09Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Mnemonic. This is a very complicated and non-phonic word. We need a way to remember how to spell it …😉 ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-spelling-sentance-you-still-use-as-an-adult/738070/31 "2015-11-25T04:07:26Z")
One I made up to remember how to spell “fruit”. F, are you it? In my 7 year old brain, F was a guy’s name. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-spelling-sentance-you-still-use-as-an-adult/738070/32 "2015-11-25T16:18:05Z")
“If U Seek Amy” ---
**Author:** ![Abner\_Ravenwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Abner\_Ravenwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abner_Ravenwood)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-spelling-sentance-you-still-use-as-an-adult/738070/33 "2015-11-25T17:35:43Z")
My 12th grade teacher told us that she had difficulty remembering the order of presidents from Fillmore to Lincoln, so she made up the mnemonic device “funky peanut butter lover.” And I’m sure most everyone remembers “please excuse my dear Aunt Sally” for order of operations and “kings play chess on fat girls’ stomachs” for taxonomy order. ---
**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:** [November 25, 2015, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-spelling-sentance-you-still-use-as-an-adult/738070/34 "2015-11-25T17:40:13Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > I remember learning: > > Martha Visits Every Monday and Just Stays Until Noon, Period. > > for the order of the planets. The “and” was the asteroid belt. I learned it as “Many Very Early Men Ate Juicy Steaks Using No Plates.” Yours is more adaptable to the post-Pluto system. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Abner\_Ravenwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Abner\_Ravenwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abner_Ravenwood)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-spelling-sentance-you-still-use-as-an-adult/738070/35 "2015-11-25T17:56:19Z")
Who used “Thirty days hath November” to remember which months had 31 days and which had 30 days? I used the [knuckle mnemonic](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9b/Month_-_Knuckles_%28en%29.svg) instead. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-spelling-sentance-you-still-use-as-an-adult/738070/36 "2015-11-26T01:28:38Z")
> [@Abner\_Ravenwood](#): > > Who used “Thirty days hath November” to remember which months had 31 days and which had 30 days? I used the [knuckle mnemonic](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9b/Month_-_Knuckles_%28en%29.svg) instead. On a side note, that reminds me of the old riddle about which two pairs of consecutive months have 31 days. July-August everyone gets, but the other? December-January. People are generally not used to thinking of them as consecutive in this manner, what with one being in one year and the other in the next. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-spelling-sentance-you-still-use-as-an-adult/738070.md?page=1)