Top 10 Scientific Mnemonics
Published on December 17, 2007 - 127 Comments
Science is full of long lists of important information that can be very difficult to remember. A mnemonic is a small phrase or word that helps us to remember these things. This is a list of 10 mnemonics to help you learn some important scientific terms. This is to be the first in a series of lists of mnemonics.
10. The Speed of Light
Remember this phrase and when you want to know the speed of light, count the letters in each word of the sentence.
We guarantee certainty, clearly referring to this light mnemonic
299,792,458 m/sec
9. First Eighteen Elements
Memorize these phrases to learn the first eighteen elements - when you are done, make up your own phrases for some of the others.
Happy Henry Likes Beer But Could Not Obtain Four Nuts
That gives us the first 10: Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium, Beryllium, Boron, Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Fluorine, Neon.
Naughty Magpies Always Sing Perfect Songs Clawing Ants
That gives us the next 8: Sodium (NA), Magnesium, Aluminum, Silicon, Phosphorous, Sulfur, Chlorine, Argon
8. The Earth’s Atmospheres
Here is a phrase to help you remember the order of the earth’s atmospheres:
The Strong Man’s Triceps Explode
This stands for: Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, Thermosphere, Exosphere.
7. The Colors of the Rainbow
This is one I learnt in school and it is an excellent way to remember the colors of the rainbow.
Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain
Which, of course, stands for: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet. It is interesting to note that many modern scientists no longer consider Indigo to be a part of the rainbow.
6. The Brightest Stars in the Sky
The brightest stars in the sky (excluding the Sun) can be remembered with this simple mnemonic:
Sir Can Rig A VCR, Pa!
The stand for: Sirius in Canis Major, Canopus in Carina, Rigil Kent in Centaurus, Acrturus in Bootes, Vega in Lyra, Capella in Auriga, Rigel in Orion, Procyon in Canic Minor, Achernar in Eridanus
5. The 9 Principal Moons of Saturn
Saturn has a large number of moons (35 of which have names). If you wish to remember the 9 principle moons, remember your last doctors visit:
Met Dr Thip
The letters stand for: Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan, Hyperion, Iapetus, Phoebe
4. The Order of the Planets
Here is a mnemonic to remember the order of the planets - starting from closest to the sun to furthest. Pluto is included.
My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas
Giving us: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto (my favorite).
3. Cranial Bones
Here is a mnemonic to help you remember the bones of the skull:
Old People From Texas Eat spiders
This stands for: Occipital, Parietal, Frontal, Temporal, Ethnoid, Sphenoid
2. Biological Classifications
Here is an easy way to remember the biological classifications:
[Limping Dreadfully,] King Phillip Came Over From Great Spain
Standing for: [Life, Domain,] Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species.
1. Geological Ages
Here is a great mnemonic to teach you the geological ages:
Camels Often Sit Down Carefully. Perhaps Their Joints Creak. Possibly Early Oiling Might Prevent Premature Rheumatism
Which stands for: Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, Permian, Triassic, Jurrasic, Cretaceous, Pliocene, Eocene, Oligocene, Myocene, Pileocene, Pleistocene, Recent.
Bonus: Can you guess?
Here is another scientific mnemonic - can you guess what it represents?
Sergeant Major Hates Eating Onions
I will give you two clues: it comes from the category of Geography, and it has nothing to do with the image above.
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1. Levi - December 17th, 2007 at 8:31 am
The Bonus is the Great Lakes ordered from west to east. Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario. Learned that in early grade school.
2. jfrater - December 17th, 2007 at 8:32 am
Wow - I didn’t expect it to be answered that quickly!
3. Levi - December 17th, 2007 at 8:34 am
Sorry… I don’t get out much.
Love the site. Though there isn’t much for ancient histories or science fiction. I may have to rectify that one day.
4. dangorironhide - December 17th, 2007 at 8:35 am
Nice list, though I can’t see me ever using them all!
Another planets one I know is ‘My Very Easy Method Just Say ‘Ur’ Nine Planets’
Well, I cant remember what the one for Uranus is, but it’s something along the lines of that…
SMHEO - Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, Ontario. The great lakes.
5. dangorironhide - December 17th, 2007 at 8:36 am
Damn. Pipped to the post as they say! haha
6. jfrater - December 17th, 2007 at 8:40 am
Levi: I love Sci Fi and ancient history - I just haven’t thought of any good topics recently - there are a few on each at least - if you get ideas - or better yet, write a list, let me know
dangorironhide: heh - he who hesitates is lost!
7. dangorironhide - December 17th, 2007 at 8:43 am
jfrater: or, he who looks up google for the answer is lost
Ancient history list idea: 10 greatest far east emporers. I would guess not many people (me included) know much about them, it would be pretty interesting.
8. Elizabeth - December 17th, 2007 at 9:03 am
I was always taught the word “HOMES” for the great lakes.
Also, we used the name ROY G. BIV for the colors of the rainbow
9. Elizabeth - December 17th, 2007 at 9:06 am
By the way… I think I look at this site and the comments WAY too much. I had a dream with the names Ravyn and dangorironhide in it!!
10. jfrater - December 17th, 2007 at 9:10 am
dangorironhide: haha you cheat! Thanks for the list idea - I have noted it down.
Elizabeth: I have heard Roy G Biv too. And how hilarious that you dreamt about the site! I have had list dreams, but nothing too specific yet
11. dangorironhide - December 17th, 2007 at 9:13 am
Elizabeth: I’m in a lot of gals dreams
hahahahaha
Whats up with the post counter at the side? It’s going all over the place…
12. Levi - December 17th, 2007 at 9:14 am
Professor J. I looked at contributing… and the format explination is confusing. If I submit a list that isn’t in the right format, will points will be deducted from my final grade?
13. Juggz - December 17th, 2007 at 9:16 am
Jamie you should include more trivia in the lists.
14. Anne - December 17th, 2007 at 9:18 am
Nice list, would be helpful in memorizing stuffs especially to those highschool students… would love to see more of tipics like this, natural wonders, both inside and outside the planet…
and Jfrater: in geological ages that one coming after ordovician, isnt that caalled silurian instead of sirillian? but its been a while since i opened a good book, just checkin if i still got the correct knowledge. nevertheless it is a cool and well educating list…
15. jfrater - December 17th, 2007 at 9:19 am
dangorironhide: the post counter? I am not seeing anything weird.
Levi: no - I will just reformat it
Juggz: More trivia lists or trivia in some of the lists? Do you think this one is lacking?
16. dangorironhide - December 17th, 2007 at 9:21 am
jfrater: Is it counting total number of comments? Or over a time scale? A couple of days ago I had over 120, then this morning it was 117, now its 110, and Rayvn & Kelsi’s are going down as well. I think its only Juggz’s thats staying constant…
17. twud b me! - December 17th, 2007 at 9:29 am
reactivity of metals: i learnd it last yr nd still only got a b in science…stupid junior cert!
myt mix a few up…
pretty potasium
sally sodium
could calcium
marry magnesium
a aluminium
zulu zinc
in iron
lovely lithium
honolulu helium/hydrogen
causing copper
many
strange silver
gazes gold
may have mixed up sum…..but thats a gud rememberary i got goin there!
18. ImplosiveFire - December 17th, 2007 at 9:32 am
Haha, didn’t know any of these. Number 10 is really cleverly done
19. jfrater - December 17th, 2007 at 9:37 am
dangorironhide: oh! It shows the last 30 days only
twud b me: a ‘b’ is hardly something to complain about
ImplosiveFire: these should be on the “ways to make yourself seem more intelligent” list as you certainly would seem smart if you could rattle off all the geological epoch etc.
20. Becky - December 17th, 2007 at 9:46 am
Haven’t you heard HOMES for the great lakes? Same idea, different order.
21. Scott - December 17th, 2007 at 10:02 am
Why didn’t you used the ever famous Roy G. Biv for the rainbow colors?
22. jfrater - December 17th, 2007 at 10:04 am
Scott: i thought the version here was easier to remember
Becky: the item above will give you the lakes in their order from West to East.
23. Becky - December 17th, 2007 at 10:05 am
Ah, yes, that makes sense…
24. Philmont237 - December 17th, 2007 at 10:13 am
Here’s a better one for the biological classifications:
Living Dreadfully, King Philip Cried Out For Goodness Sake.
It makes more sense than the one posted.
25. Levi - December 17th, 2007 at 10:14 am
Professor J. I just sent a list. Please consider it for your future class lessons. d[-_-]b
26. dofnup - December 17th, 2007 at 10:15 am
What’s this about “Life” and “Domain” being part of the Biological Classifications??? I always knew it as:
Kings Play Chess On Fancy Gold Stools
Our teacher also taught us one for the metric prefixes, i.e. Kilo, Hecta, Deca, Deci, Centi, Milli … but I forgot the device since I didn’t need it (learned Metric before English system).
27. dofnup - December 17th, 2007 at 10:16 am
Sorry for the double post but it didn’t let me edit for some reason …
Wasn’t there also a mnemonic device for the guitar strings? All I remember is it involved goats >_>
28. jfrater - December 17th, 2007 at 10:18 am
dofnup: life and domain are just extending the concept upwards - they are not strictly part of the classification. And I don’t know about the guitar strings, but I know music notation on the treble clef is taught as “Every Good Boy Deserves Fruit” for the notes on the line, and “FACE” for the spaces.
29. evan - December 17th, 2007 at 10:19 am
standard tuning for guitar is
eddie ate dynomite, Good Bye Eddie
E-A-D-G-B-E
30. Juggz - December 17th, 2007 at 10:20 am
Jamie: just more lists with trivia in them
31. jfrater - December 17th, 2007 at 10:23 am
Juggz: oh okay - that can be arranged
I like trivia.
32. Adam - December 17th, 2007 at 10:23 am
I remember from grade ten math that the mnemonic Old Hippies Are High On Acid was used to help remember the primary trig ratios.
33. Kevin - December 17th, 2007 at 10:33 am
Hey Jamie, love the site, I’ve been coming here and looking around for awhile now. Get this: in college as an engineering pre-med major, and I found myself using #2, #3, and #10 on the finals for those respective classes
34. jfrater - December 17th, 2007 at 10:35 am
Kevin: that is great! Your testimony proves to others that these are all worth learning!
35. dangorironhide - December 17th, 2007 at 10:36 am
Adam: we used ‘SOH CAH TOA’ for the trig ratios. Sin=O/H, Cos=A/H, Tan=O/A. It worked pretty well.
36. twud b me! - December 17th, 2007 at 10:40 am
distance= speed x time
dads silly triangle
distance
/
speed x time
37. jfrater - December 17th, 2007 at 10:40 am
I learnt SOH CAH TOA too.
38. SocialButterfly - December 17th, 2007 at 10:41 am
dofnup: I remember the Kings Play Chess On Fancy Gold Stools from Grade 10 Biology.
The one I learned for the planets was Mother Visits Every Morning Just Stays Until Noon Period.
I suppose now though there is no period…
39. twud b me! - December 17th, 2007 at 10:42 am
dangorironhide:
sin:oh hell
cos:another hour
tan:of algerbra
sin:opp/hyp
cos:adj/hyp
tan:opp/adj
jfrater:supps i cant b complainin!
40. Kevin - December 17th, 2007 at 10:44 am
Haha, Adam, I’ll never forget the way I learned those trig ratios back in my junior year of high school: “Oscar Had (Sin) A Hangover (Cos) On Alcohol (Tan).” I thought that was the funniest thing ever, so it worked pretty well for me. To each his own, right?
41. twud b me! - December 17th, 2007 at 10:44 am
oh yea for the planets i learned
My Very Educated Mother Just Showed Us Nine Planets
though now poor pluto is gone *weeps*
i miss pluto!
42. dangorironhide - December 17th, 2007 at 10:47 am
twud be me (#36): a way I learned at school for any equation with 3 parts is the ‘magic triangle’, which is actually really useful if you can visualise it.
s
v|t
just cover up the one you want to find and you can see what you need to do to the others! It works with loads of them.
43. dangorironhide - December 17th, 2007 at 10:48 am
ack it doesnt look right. should be:
_s_
v|t
44. twud b me! - December 17th, 2007 at 10:53 am
oh yea!i keep rememberin more!
for the 13 irreg french past verbs that take etre!
MR. DAMPS TAVERN
or d 1 i made up!
anne………aller
requested….reste
a…………arriver
million……monter
entrees……entrer
to………..tomber
party……..partir
down………descendre
royaly…….retourner
mourned……mourir
nevil……..naitre
so………..sortir
vigorously…venir
phew!had to dig out my study copy for that!thank god im in 4th yr where we get no homework or tests…actually we just kinda sit down!
45. twud b me! - December 17th, 2007 at 10:54 am
dangorironhide:oh yea i see it now!cool
46. Black Lutefisk - December 17th, 2007 at 11:02 am
JFrater, This Mnemonic Recalls Most Memorable American Cable Co-Defendants.
John, Tim, & Michael Rigas; Michael Mulcahey; Adelphia Communications Company
47. Grendel - December 17th, 2007 at 11:03 am
My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nothing.
Pluto is not a planet since last year, but the largest member of the Kuiper belt.
48. Black Lutefisk - December 17th, 2007 at 11:05 am
(Forgetting this is a science list…I need better mnemonics.)
49. jfrater - December 17th, 2007 at 11:16 am
Pluto will always be a planet in my heart! So there!
50. SocialButterfly - December 17th, 2007 at 11:26 am
jfrater: here here!!
51. Mikerodz - December 17th, 2007 at 11:42 am
I only remember MY DEAR AUNT SALLY and LUCY IN THE SKY IS DIAMOND.
52. Ravyn - December 17th, 2007 at 11:44 am
Oh my I think I am honored. My name came up in someones dream. That is crazy.
I knew both of the ones for the great lakes (seeing as I live on one). I also only heard of ROY G BIV for the colors of the rainbow. I think the droping of indigo is due to the fact that it is not primary nor secondary.
I am sorry I am still flabergasted by being in someones dreams… HA
53. Miss Destiny - December 17th, 2007 at 11:56 am
The Great Lakes! Living near two of them (Erie and Ontario) I had BETTER know that one!
54. Ravyn - December 17th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
Miss Destiny: I live at the other end of Erie…lol…I know the feeling.
Jamie: BTW the trivia thing is an awesome addition, I hope you plan to do more list with trivia.
Mikerodz: I don’t remember either of those 2…what are they for?
55. Miss Destiny - December 17th, 2007 at 12:03 pm
In fourth grade or so we used a mnemonic for the five nations of the Iroquois Native Americans. SCOOM = Seneca Cayuga Oneida Onondaga Mohawk.
It’s a nonsense word, but it worked because I still remembered them all today.
56. jfrater - December 17th, 2007 at 12:08 pm
Ravyn: in 3… 2… 1…
57. Mikerodz - December 17th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
Me neither lol. We forget about it, could we?
58. BrotherMan - December 17th, 2007 at 2:29 pm
When I was in the 2nd or 3rd grade we learned the 4 cardinal directions starting from North by saying Never Eat Soggy Waffles (North, East, South, West). It sure helped me out a lot back then!
59. SocialButterfly - December 17th, 2007 at 3:02 pm
BrotherMan: I was taught Never Eat Shredded Wheat!
60. SocialButterfly - December 17th, 2007 at 3:09 pm
Sorry for the double post…editing
Mikerodz: My Dear Aunt Sally was apart of the order of operations mnemonic for mathematical problems…
Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally = Parentheses, Exponents, Multiply, Divide, Add & Subtract.
Amazing that I remember these but I always forget my keys!
61. Ravyn - December 17th, 2007 at 3:13 pm
I never heard that one My Dear Aunt Sally.interesting enough
Don’t worry about the keys…I always forget something everytime I walk out the door. Never fails that i have to make a trip around the block just to get something
62. petey mcgee - December 17th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
for the 13 cranial nerves (at least in a cat)
tsk
oh
oh
oh
to
touch
and
feel
a
girl’s
vagina
so
hot
don’t remember the nerves, i got a D in that class!
63. fivestring63 - December 17th, 2007 at 3:37 pm
One we used in the Marines was for the controls of a helicopter
Young Cun** Are Pink
Yaw Collective Attitude Pitch
64. Mikerodz - December 17th, 2007 at 4:02 pm
Brotherman: that’s NEWS to me
65. chillipacker - December 17th, 2007 at 4:28 pm
for biology we are taught ….King Phillip Came Over For Great Sex, far more memorable!
66. Mom424 - December 17th, 2007 at 4:47 pm
we used Mrs VanderTamp for irregular french verbs
also ipmat for cell division
interphase
prophase
metaphase
anaphase
telophase,,lord i still remember grade 8 biology
and i’m old
67. ihavelegs - December 17th, 2007 at 6:46 pm
long time lurker - I’ll just pop my head out of the woodwork.
OILRIG.
Oxidation
Is
Loss
Reduction
Is
Gain
how electrons are lost/gained in chemistry - I didnt get it either but it has stuck with me al lthe same.
68. joconne6 - December 17th, 2007 at 6:53 pm
The old electrical engineering mnemonic for remembering the numerical values of the color bands on resistors (the old leaded type that would have three color bands) was “Bad boys rape our young girls, but Violet gives willingly.”
I’m ashamed to say that’s one of the few things I remember from EE undergrad…
69. Harsha - December 17th, 2007 at 7:06 pm
Umm… ours was much more dignified it went like this B.B. ROY go bring very good wife.:)
70. Kat - December 17th, 2007 at 7:35 pm
In high school we learned the organic elements:
C HOPKINS CaFe, Mg F, CoCl Be MnNa CuZn ZiBr
Pronounced “See Hopkins’ cafe, mighty good food, cook’ll be mine-uh cousin Zieber.” Hey, it worked… 12 years later and I still remember it.
Of course I could have missed the abbreviations for some of those.
71. jocsboss - December 17th, 2007 at 8:58 pm
Ok, so I registered and everything just to tell you this so you better appreciate!
Pi can be remembered with this couplet:
Sir, I send a rhyme excelling
In sacred truth and rigid spelling.
3.14159265358
Truth be told, this is just the opening of a poem that is dozens of lines long. Of course I didn’t remember the whole thing. This is already longer than I need.
For the plant/animal thing we learned
Keep playing checkers on father’s gold stool
72. Nelia - December 17th, 2007 at 9:13 pm
I always thought Indigo was sort of a weird color to include myself. Why not include all the colors that occur when they blend together then? like lime?
is there a particular reason why Indigo was different and got included? I thought it was just blue and purple mixed. And we learned it as ROY G BIV when i was a kid, I was trying to remember what it was so I had to scan the comments, knowing someone would mention it 
Also… why violet? not purple?
73. nellerbear - December 17th, 2007 at 9:16 pm
I learned the biological classification as
King Kingdom
Phillip Phylum
Came Class
Over Order
For Family
Great Genus
Sex Species
74. Ravyn - December 17th, 2007 at 9:21 pm
Nelia:
Basically Purple is a shade of the combine blue and red where there product is more towards the red than the blue. Violet is the equal portions of red and blue. On a color wheel it is between magenta and violet.
Purple
Hope that helps
75. DiscHuker - December 17th, 2007 at 9:38 pm
does anyone know what this is made to help you remember?
2 S’s, 2 D’s and 3 emotions
10 bonus points for the first person who gets it. no using google dangor
76. Ravyn - December 17th, 2007 at 9:54 pm
DiskHuker: When I see 2 S’s, 2 D’s i think of Same Shit, Different Day.
77. Ravyn - December 17th, 2007 at 9:57 pm
Sorry for the double post…
2 s’s 2 d’d and 3 emotions is not exactly scientific… I know what it stands for though…
78. DiscHuker - December 17th, 2007 at 10:01 pm
ur right ravyn, i realized that after i posted. oh well, think of it as random pneumonic trivia.
79. Amanda - December 17th, 2007 at 10:01 pm
I Victorious x- men Lover Can’t Date Much
This is the roman numerals Its not science but its the stickiest mnemonic I have ever learned.
80. WhiteRabbit - December 18th, 2007 at 12:54 am
Hello everybody, my first post here. A mnemonic I learned for biological classification was
Kendra
Puts
Cheese
On
Fried
Goat
Skins
kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species
I also know the ROY G. BIV one for colors and HOMES for the Great Lakes.
Whew, commenting wasn’t so bad, expect more . . . maybe.
81. shawn - December 18th, 2007 at 1:22 am
I think it was on Robert Smigle’s “TV Funhouse” they had a mock educational film that used for biological classification: “Karl, please come over for gay sex.” Weird thing is it worked. I laughed so hard I have never forgotten it.
82. Ed - December 18th, 2007 at 6:01 am
For the Biological Classifications, i always used:
King
Prawn
Curry
Or
Fat
Greasy
sausage
83. jfrater - December 18th, 2007 at 6:12 am
Ed: that is a good one - easy to remember.
84. mooster - December 18th, 2007 at 6:37 am
Those damned astronomers will never take my pizza!!!
85. dangorironhide - December 18th, 2007 at 6:51 am
SocialButterfly (#60): we used BODMAS for that, Brackets, Divide, Multiply, Add, Subtract.
Worked pretty well.
86. Kelsi - December 18th, 2007 at 9:36 am
I should have checked listverse BEFORE going to my chem exam this morning!! Gah! I have heard of some of these. I’ll give you all one that I can 80% garuntee that no one will know…
All Fat Bay Mares Can Hardly Ever Kick
or, for those of you who may be more advanced,
All King Victor Emmanuel’s Show Horses Can Make Really Beautiful People Fall
And what about popme?
Power of a power–multiply exponents! Okay, not really a mnemonic, but still really helpful.
And dangor: We learned it as Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally. Brackets? Nah. Parentheses.
87. dofnup - December 18th, 2007 at 10:49 am
Trig ratios!! That takes me back … I came up with a mnemonic device for myself (and my friends), but it only works if you’re doing trig in spanish!
It was: “Co-Ca-Coca”. It corresponds to:
Sine = Co/H
Cosine = Ca/H
Tangent = Co/Ca
Since the “h” is silent in spanish, it reads as “Co-Ca-Coca!” ^_^
88. Nelia - December 18th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
Thanks Ravyn, good to know. Science was never my thing (i’m an english grad student who will run screaming from equations of any kind), but it is interesting stuff. Probably more so when you understand it.
89. Martin L - December 18th, 2007 at 2:30 pm
Hey, Jamie, I believe Anne had a correction for you @ #14: I believe it is Silurian, not Sirillian. Also, in List Item #7, you forgot to enumerate Yellow while explaining the mnemonic. That’s okay. Remember Tom Ridge, America’s illustrious first Secretary of Homeland Security? When he came up with the color code system for National Threat Alerts, he switched purple and blue — and apparently no one had the brains or the balls to tell him until a writer from the New Yorker spoke up while interviewing him!
90. Martin L - December 18th, 2007 at 2:41 pm
And as long as I’m nitpicking, it’s not pileocene among the geological ages either.
From our old friends at Wikipedia:
“The Pliocene epoch (spelled Pleiocene in some older texts) is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5.332 million to 1.806 million years before present.”
Just trying to help make a great list even better in my own small but obnoxious way.
91. jfrater - December 18th, 2007 at 3:17 pm
Martin L: thank you - I have made the corrections that both you and Anne have suggested!
92. JC - December 18th, 2007 at 4:03 pm
Roy G. Biv, colors of the rainbow, haven’t heard of it? Maybe your method is British, considering no one in America knows of any Richard of York, let alone a battle he gave in vain.
93. JC - December 18th, 2007 at 4:04 pm
oh yeah, HOMES is also my method of memorizing the great lakes.
P.S. sorry for commenting about Roy G. Biv, somebody already did.
94. james2434523 - December 18th, 2007 at 8:48 pm
for number 2 instead of that one remeber Kim Please Come Omar Fixing Get Shot
95. catherder - December 18th, 2007 at 10:32 pm
Here are a few more:
* The Planets
Mother Very Thoughtfully Made A Jelly Sandwich Under No Protest (Mercury, Venus, Terra, Mars, Asteroids, Jupiter..etc)
also my favourite: Many Very Educated Men Are Justly Satisfied Using Novelty Paperclips!
* Network Protocol Stack layers
Princess Diana Never Took Sex from Prince Andrew
(Physical, Datalink, Network, Transport, Session, Presentation, Application)
And yes, JC, number 7 about Richard of York is indeed British, and very likely refers to Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York (1411-1460) who was killed by Lancastrian forces. The phrase is much more memorable (I think) than an invented name, and has the benefit of teaching you a little about history!
96. catherder - December 18th, 2007 at 10:36 pm
Oh yes JC, the “Princess Diana” one is also British, and teaches a snippet of history as well..!
97. catherder - December 18th, 2007 at 10:38 pm
Actually it’s in use in Australia, but I don’t know if originated here or in the UK.
98. corinthian0430 - December 18th, 2007 at 11:06 pm
actually… my mneomonic for the colors of the rainbow is the shorter “Roy G. Biv”
99. nellerbear - December 19th, 2007 at 10:12 am
For directions I was taught
Never
Eat
Soggy
Waffles
100. kirstin - December 19th, 2007 at 7:55 pm
Silly anatomy mnemonic…
On Occasion Our Trusty Truck Acts Funny. Very Good Vehicle Any How.
For the 12 cranial nerves: olfactory, optic, oculomotor, trochlear, trigeminal, abducens, facial, vestibulocochlear, glossopharyngeal, vagus, (spinal) accessory, hypoglossal
101. rneiderman - December 19th, 2007 at 9:51 pm
While going to school to be an optician, I came up with one to remember the 5 layers of the cornea.
Every Boy Strokes During Erections
=
Epithelium, Bowman’s layer, Stroma, Descemet’s membrane, Endothelium
Nobody in my class ever forgot that one!
102. Luke - December 20th, 2007 at 9:47 am
Back in middle school for Biological Classifications, we came up with, Kinky People Can Often Find Great Sex.
103. Dave - December 21st, 2007 at 1:33 pm
My niece was on here looking at this with me and wanted to know why nobody said the lucky charms marshmellow as a way of remembering the colors of the rainbow… just wanted to throw that out there. Also, i remember that epeisode with the Karl, please come over for gay sex mnemonic. very catchy.
104. Lu - December 23rd, 2007 at 4:39 pm
Oh, I know one we use a lot in our English class. Order of adjectives: OASCOMP.
Opinion, Size, Age, Shape, Colour, Origin, Material, Purpose.
105. Lu - December 23rd, 2007 at 4:39 pm
I mean OSASCOMP, sorry.
106. fishing4monkeys - January 17th, 2008 at 6:21 am
For the planets:
Many Very Elderly Men Just sit Under Nodding Palms…that’s how I learned them when I was little
107. momoe - January 30th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
In recent years, I have used a South Park reference as a mnemonic suggestion for my students to remember biological classification:
Omit LIFE
Dammit Domain
Kitty, Kingdom
Please Phylum
Come Class
Out Order
For Family
Goodness Genus
Sakes! Species
In the voice of Eric Cartman. Enjoy
108. Elli - February 4th, 2008 at 12:05 am
My favorite for biological classification is
King Pancho Came Over For Great Salsa.
109. Aoden - February 5th, 2008 at 7:16 am
Stars have a surface temperature classification system. The main classifications in order of decreasing surface temperature are O, B, A, F, G, K, and M.
And here’s the easy mnemonic:
Oh Be A Fine Girl, Kiss Me.
110. rob - February 6th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
i thought for sure noone would still be commenting but they are! this is a sweet site and a great list.
i dont have a catchy device but just wanted to say that i just remember the speed of light as about 186,000 miles/second. i know it is in miles but some of us stubborn people still use miles/feet etc. even though the metric system makes much better sense
(it is also more of an approximation)
111. hemmes - February 21st, 2008 at 1:00 am
Is the bonuspicture by any chance The Three Sisters in the Blue Mountains Australia? The legend is that these three where turned into stone-pillars by an evil sorcorer because they did not want to get involved with him or marry him.
I saw this one when we where there. It is very familiar picture to me.
112. antlyon - February 23rd, 2008 at 7:17 pm
Don’t know about anyone else but it always has been easier for me to memorize the actual facts than a mnemonic that relates to a fact.
113. Yim - March 22nd, 2008 at 12:10 am
ethmoid bone
114. Me - March 22nd, 2008 at 4:35 am
Pluto is no longer in the solar system, but here is another way to remember the nine planets.
My
Very
Easy
Method -
Just
Set
Up
Nine
Planets
115. g3 - April 9th, 2008 at 9:24 am
My favorite on isn’t on here! (Yes, I have a favorite and yes, I am a geek) For Mohs hardness scale: Tall girls can flirt and feel queasy towards cool dudes. Which is the minerals from softest to hardest: talc, gypsum, calcite, fluorite, apatite, (orthoclase) feldspar, quartz, topaz, corundum, and diamond.
116. sam - April 19th, 2008 at 10:14 am
COMPASS POINTS:
Never eat shredded wheat
Naughty Elephants squirt water
SPECTRUM:
Richard Of york Gave Battle In vain
Rich Old Yanks Get babies In Vests
Guitar Strings
Edward And Daryl Go Blasting Englishmen
French irregular Verbs (takes etre in p.t):
anne………aller
requested….reste
a…………arriver
million……monter
entrees……entrer
to………..tomber
party……..partir
down………descendre
royaly…….retourner
mourned……mourir
nevil……..naitre
so………..sortir
vigorously…venir
LAKES: Sam’s Horse must eat oats
Life Processes
MRS NERG
Movement
Reproduction
Sensitivity
Nutrition
Excretion
Respiration
Growth
117. Beth - May 19th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
I hate hate hate hate hate this particular mnemonic, but it has succeeded, where one of my own making would not suffice, more than likely. And as an added ‘bonus’, my boyfriend remembers it as well - and he hasn’t studied biology for 3 years, certainly not at A-level - [it’s for the biological classification] - my biology lecturer made it up; KP Crisps Only For Good Students *sigh* my boyfriend says it every time he sees KP crisps.
It’s strange how some things work, really. I remember my GCSE maths teacher giving us ‘Some Old Horses Can Always Hear Their Owners Approach’ for the Trigonometric identities, but I never remembered it that way (odd as I’m an enthusiastic horseperson) - I remembered it simply as ‘Soh Cah Toa!’
OILRIG has worked for me
hehe, last ever A-level chemistry lesson on Thursday! Wow.
The irregular french verbs will ALWAYS be ‘The DRAPER’S VAN’ verbs to me, heh, and for the letters around an equestrian ménage (basic ménage) - All King Edward’s Horses Can Manage Big Fences.
Interesting (IMO) thing about the life processes - I was taught MRS NERG (pronounced ‘nurg’ by the teacher) but my father took one look at my work back in primary school and said ‘Oh, Mrs N ER G’ [Mrs Energy, if I hadn’t made that clear] and I thought that was a much better way of teaching it.
118. emily - May 29th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
another way to remember the seven levels of classification (kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species) is:
Kids Playing Chicken On Freeways Get Smushed.
119. Askalon - June 11th, 2008 at 8:49 pm
My teacher taught the biological classifications as “King Phillip Came Over For Great Sex.” Especially considering we were 13-year-olds, she said anything with sex in it we would remember. She was right.
120. Gecko - June 22nd, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Hmm, I was taught that it was ‘Kings Play Chess on Fine Grained Sand’ or ‘King Philip Came Over For Good Spaghetti’
121. Saint Cad - June 24th, 2008 at 1:20 am
my favorite is Moh’s hardness scale:
Toronto girls can flirt and other quirky things Canadians do.
talc, gypsum, calcite, flourite, apatite, orthoclase feldspar, quartz, topaz, corundum, diamond
122. Julie-Anne - August 23rd, 2008 at 2:52 pm
There are a lot of posts regarding the french irregular verbs that are missing quite a few. The full mnemonic that contains all, if not most of the is:
Dr Mrs P Vandertramp
Devenir
Revenir
Monter
Retourner
Sortir
Passer
Venir
Aller
Naitre
Descendre
Entrer
Revenir
Tomber
Rester
Arriver
Mourir
Partir
Also, there is a (slightly) longer mnemonic that has the first 20 elements of the periodic table, and matches their atomic symbols:
Harry He Likes Beer Bottled Cold Not Over Frothy. Nelly Nanny Might Although Silly Person She Climb Around Kinky Caves.
123. MJ - August 27th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
I went to the planetarium last week and they so kindly informed me that Pluto is no longer a planet. I was none too happy…. how do I go 38 years thinking we have 9 planets in our solar system and then one day they decide….no, there’s only 8…..
124. Kristie - September 8th, 2008 at 4:42 am
Rainbow colours……
“virgins in bed give you odd reactions”
violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, red.
125. MT - September 10th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
In Michigan we always remembered the Great Lakes by saying HOMES.
126. RJ - September 30th, 2008 at 8:05 am
For the first 10 elements I use….
Happy Henry Likes Berries But Could Not Often Find Ne.
It works and the kids love it!!
127. Hayley - December 20th, 2008 at 9:08 am
For the now 8 planets: Mary’s violet eyes make John stay up nights.