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A mnemonic is a memory or learning aid. Once learned, mnemonics tend to stay in our memories forever. Mnemonics began in ancient Greece, prior to the written word. Our favorites are amusing and quirky. Studies have shown that people who use mnemonics remember twice as well as those who don’t. (from i before e (except after c) by Judy Parkinson)
To impress your friends:
- Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived – the fates of Henry VIII’s six wives.
- My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas – the order of the planets in our solar system: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto (which has been “unplanetized”).
- See Me Here Every October - for the order of the Great Lakes (Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, Ontario).
Words, grammar and spelling:
- I before E, except after C or when sounding like A as in “neighbor and weigh, and “weird” is just weird.”
- 2 Cs and 2 Ss and you’ll always have ‘success’.
- When 2 vowels go walking the first one does the talking – like heal, deal, loan, afraid.
Everyday living:
- Righty tighty, lefty loosey – turning knobs on or off or tightening or loosening bolts.
- Tops by their bottoms, and bottoms by their tops – how to hang laundry to dry without getting clothespin marks.
- Never Eat Shredded Wheat – remembering the compass going clockwise.
- Red sky at night, sailors delight, red sky in morning, sailors take warning – if the sunset is red, the next day will be good weather.
- High to low, look out below. Low to high, clear blue sky – about temperature and pressure changes.
- The cutlery had a fight; the knife and spoon were right so the fork left – how to set the table.
- Always cut towards your chum, never cut towards your thumb, you can always get another chum, but you’ll never get another thumb! - how to cut with a knife
- 30 days hath September, April, June and November, all the rest have 31 except February!
- Fall back, spring ahead – seasonal time changes.
- Raise right, lower left – how to serve and clear a table.
- Measure twice, cut once – for working with wood, or anything that can’t be undone!
- Swing easy when it’s breezy – Don’t swing too hard when playing golf in the wind.
Check out Judy Parkinson’s i before e(except after c) $20.85
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