Editing Mnemonic (section)

==Applications and examples==
{{main|List of mnemonics}}
A [[list of mnemonics|wide range of mnemonics]] are used for several purposes. The most commonly used mnemonics are those for lists, numerical sequences, foreign-language acquisition, and medical treatment for patients with memory deficits.

===For lists===
{{Excessive examples|section|date=July 2023}}
<!-- EDITORIAL NOTE: Do not add mnemonics here, unless they are particularly illustrative. See "List of mnemonics" article instead -->
A common mnemonic technique for remembering a list is to create an easily remembered [[acronym]]. Another is to create a memorable phrase with words which share the same first letter(s) (i.e.: the same [[initialism]]) as the list members. Mnemonic techniques can be applied to most memorization of novel materials.

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Some common examples for first-letter mnemonics:
* Mnemonics for spelling ''mnemonic'' include "memory needs every method of nurturing its capacity" and "maybe not every mnemonic oozes nuisance intensely concentrated".
* To memorize the [[metric prefix]]es after giga, think of the candy, and this mnemonic. "Tangiest [[Pez]]? Yellow!" TPEZY: tera, peta, exa, zetta, yotta.
* The order of [[Sharp (music)|sharps]] in [[key signature]] notation is F, C, G, D, A, E and B, giving the mnemonic "Father Charles goes down and ends battle". The order of [[flat (music)|flats]] is the reverse: B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭, C♭ and F♭ ("Battle ends and down goes Charles's father").<ref>{{cite book|title=The Quarterly Musical Review|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KeoqAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA107|volume=1|year=1885|publisher=J. Heywood|page=107}}</ref><!-- This mnemonic is significant for its long history and its reversibility -->
* The colours of the [[rainbow]] in "[[Richard III of England|Richard of York]] gave battle in vain", "Run over your granny because it's violent" or the fictional name "Roy G. Biv" (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet).
* The acronym HOMES for the North American [[Great Lakes]]: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.happychild.org.uk/acc/tpr/mne/1199gtlk.htm|title=Great Lakes Mnemonic – part of the Accelerated Learning Series|website=www.happychild.org.uk}}</ref>
* Electronic colour codes are remembered with [[List of electronic color code mnemonics|a wide range of mnemonic phrases]], owing to multiple colours beginning with ''b'' and ''g'' and shifts from sexist phrases once common in traditionally male-dominated professions.<ref name="Morse_2001">{{Cite book |publisher=Basic Books |isbn=0-7382-0615-6 |page=308 |author-last=Morse |author-first= Mary |title=Women Changing Science: Voices from a Field in Transition |date=2001 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=veqNOLMfqOIC&q=%22bad+boys+rape+our+young+girls%22&pg=PA44}}</ref>
* For [[Power factor#Mnemonics|effects of an inductor or capacitor]] in [[alternating current]] circuits, the phrase "Eli the iceman" or "Eli on ice" has been used by electrical engineers. With an inductor present (the symbol ''L'' indicating inductance), the peak value of voltage (''E'') precedes the peak value of the current (''I''), so ''E'' precedes ''I'' in "Eli". With a capacitor present (the symbol ''C'' indicating capacitance), the peak current leads the peak voltage, with ''I'' leading ''E'' when ''C'' is present in "ice". Another common mnemonic is "civil": in a capacitor (C) current (I) leads voltage (V), while voltage leads current in a inductor (L).
* For [[redox]] chemical reactions, where oxidation and reduction can be confused, the phrase "Leo says ger" (lose electron oxidation, gain electron reduction) or acronym "oil rig" (oxidation is losing, reduction is gaining) can be used.<ref name="Mnemonic Methods">{{cite book|last=Glynn, Shawn|title=Mnemonic Methods|year=2003|publisher=The Science Teacher|pages=52–55|display-authors=etal|id={{ProQuest|214619949}}}}</ref>
* [[Planetary mnemonic]]s include: "My very educated mother just served us nachos" or "my very easy method just speeds up naming planets" (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, [Pluto]).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iau.org/public_press/news/release/iau0603/questions_answers/ |title=Questions and Answers on Planets |access-date=2008-07-06 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140208183938/http://www.iau.org/public_press/news/release/iau0603/questions_answers/ |archive-date=February 8, 2014 }}</ref>
* The sequence of [[stellar classification]]: "Oh, be a fine girl [or guy], kiss me!" – where O, B, A, F, G, K, M are categories of stars.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.mnemonic-device.com/astronomy/oh-be-a-fine-girl-kiss-me/|website = Mnemonic Devices Memory Tools|title = Mnemonic Oh, Be A Fine Girl, Kiss Me! in Astronomy|access-date = 2017-03-06|archive-date = 2017-03-07|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170307203948/https://www.mnemonic-device.com/astronomy/oh-be-a-fine-girl-kiss-me/|url-status = live}}</ref>
* For the layers of the [[OSI Model]]: "Please do not teach students pointless acronyms" (physical, data link, network, transport, session, presentation, application).
* [[Taxonomy mnemonic]]s include "Do kings play chess on funny glass stairs?" and "Do kindly please come over for green soup." (domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species)
* For [[diatomic molecule|diatomic elements]]: [[Bromine|Br]] [[Iodine|I]] [[Nitrogen|N]] [[Chlorine|Cl]] [[Hydrogen|H]] [[Oxygen|O]] [[Fluorine|F]] (pronounced 'brinkelhoff')<ref>{{cite web |url =https://www.mnemonic-device.com/chemistry/brinclhof-pronounced-brinklehoff/ |website =Mnemonic Devices Memory Tools |title =BrINClHOF (pronounced Brinklehoff) |access-date =2019-06-16 |archive-date =2019-06-01 |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20190601172527/https://www.mnemonic-device.com/chemistry/brinclhof-pronounced-brinklehoff/ |url-status =live }}</ref> or "have no fear of ice cold beer".<ref>{{cite web |url =https://www.ict4us.com/mnemonics/en_diatomicmolecules.htm |website =ICT4US |title =Diatomic Molecules |access-date =2019-06-16 |archive-date =2019-06-16 |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20190616151711/https://www.ict4us.com/mnemonics/en_diatomicmolecules.htm |url-status =live }}</ref>
* For [[Adjective#Order|adjective order]] in English grammar: OPSHACOM (opinion, shape, age, colour, origin, material).
* For the British English spelling of ''[[diarrhoea]]'': "Dash in a real rush! Hurry, or else accident!"
* For the parts of the brain associated with memory: "herds of animals cause panic" (hippocampus, amygdala, cerebellum, prefrontal cortex)
* For types of memory encoding: SAVE (semantic, acoustic, and visual encoding)<ref>{{Cite web|title=8.1 How Memory Functions – Psychology {{!}} OpenStax|url=https://openstax.org/books/psychology/pages/8-1-how-memory-functions|access-date=2021-06-20|website=openstax.org|date=8 December 2014|language=en|archive-date=2021-06-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624201425/https://openstax.org/books/psychology/pages/8-1-how-memory-functions|url-status=live}}</ref>
* For parts of the [[digestive system]]: "mother eats squirrel guts because she is living in rural Arkansas" (mouth, esophagus, stomach, gall bladder, small intestine, large intestine, rectum, anus)

===For numerical sequences and mathematical operations===
Mnemonic phrases or poems can be used to encode numeric sequences by various methods, one common one is to create a new phrase in which the number of letters in each word represents the according digit of pi. For example, the first 15 digits of the mathematical constant [[pi]] (3.14159265358979) can be encoded as "Now I need a drink, alcoholic of course, after the heavy lectures involving quantum mechanics"; "Now", having 3 letters, represents the first number, 3.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mathworld.wolfram.com/PiWordplay.html|title=Pi Wordplay|first=Eric W.|last=Weisstein|website=mathworld.wolfram.com}}</ref> [[Piphilology]] is the practice dedicated to creating mnemonics for pi.

Another is used for "calculating" the multiples of 9 up to 9 × 10 using one's fingers. Begin by holding out both hands with all fingers stretched out. Now count left to right the number of fingers that indicates the multiple. For example, to figure 9 × 4, count four fingers from the left, ending at your left-hand index finger. Bend this finger down and count the remaining fingers. Fingers to the left of the bent finger represent tens, fingers to the right are ones. There are three fingers to the left and six to the right, which indicates 9 × 4 = 36. This works for 9 × 1 up through 9 × 10.

For remembering the rules in adding and multiplying two signed numbers, Balbuena and Buayan (2015) made the letter strategies LAUS (like signs, add; unlike signs, subtract) and LPUN (like signs, positive; unlike signs, negative), respectively.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Balbuena|first1=Sherwin|last2=Buayan|first2=Morena|date=January 2015|title=Mnemonics and Gaming: Scaffolding Learning of Integers|url=http://apjeas.apjmr.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/APJEAS-2.3-Revised-Mnemonics-and-Gaming1.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://apjeas.apjmr.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/APJEAS-2.3-Revised-Mnemonics-and-Gaming1.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|journal=Asia Pacific Journal of Education, Arts and Sciences|volume=2|issue=1|pages=14–18|issn=2362-8022}}</ref>

{{lang|fi|PUIMURI}} ('[[threshing machine|thresher]]') is a Finnish mnemonic regarding [[electricity]]: the first and last three letters can be arranged into the equations <math>P = U \times I</math> and <math>U = R \times I</math>. (The letter ''M'' is ignored, which can be explained with another, politically incorrect mnemonic.)<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20230412115012/https://huhtama.kapsi.fi/ele/index.php?si=ml16.sis Harraste Elektroniikka – PUIMURI – Sähkötekniikan alkeet] (in Finnish, archived)</ref>

===For foreign-language acquisition===
Mnemonics may be helpful in learning foreign languages, for example by transposing difficult foreign words with words in a language the learner knows already, also called "cognates" which are very common in [[Romance languages]] and other [[Germanic languages]]. A useful such technique is to find [[linkword]]s, words that have the same pronunciation in a known language as the target word, and associate them visually or auditorially with the target word.

For example, in trying to assist the learner to remember {{Transliteration|he|ohel}} ({{Script/Hebrew|אוהל}}), the [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] word for ''tent'', the linguist [[Ghil'ad Zuckermann]] proposes the memorable sentence "''Oh hell'', there's a raccoon in my ''tent''".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.professorzuckermann.com/anglo-hebraic-lexical-mnemonics|title=professorzuckermann – Anglo-Hebraic Lexical Mnemonics|website=Professor Ghil'ad Zuckermann – פרופ' גלעד צוקרמן|access-date=2019-02-10|archive-date=2019-02-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190212011731/https://www.professorzuckermann.com/anglo-hebraic-lexical-mnemonics|url-status=live}}</ref> The memorable sentence "There's a ''fork'' in ''Ma's leg''" helps the learner remember that the Hebrew word for ''fork'' is ''{{Transliteration|he|mazleg}}'' ({{Script/Hebrew|מזלג}}).<ref name="zuckermann1">{{cite journal |last1=Zuckermann |first1=Ghil'ad |year=2011 |title=Mnemonics in Second Language Acquisition |journal=Word Ways: The Journal of Recreational Linguistics |volume=44 |issue=4 |pages=302–309 |url=https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/wordways/vol44/iss4/21 |author1-link=Ghil'ad Zuckermann |archive-date=2017-08-30 |access-date=2018-04-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830061136/http://digitalcommons.butler.edu/wordways/vol44/iss4/21/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Similarly, to remember the Hebrew word ''{{Transliteration|he|bayit}}'' ({{Script/Hebrew|בית}}), meaning ''house'', one can use the sentence "that's a lovely ''house'', I'd like to ''buy it''."<ref name="zuckermann1" /> The linguist [[Michel Thomas]] taught students to remember that ''{{Lang|es|estar}}'' is the Spanish word for ''to be'' by using the phrase "to be a star".<ref name="howtomaster">{{cite web|title=How to Master a Foreign Language|url=http://www.buildyourmemory.com/foreignlanguage.php|website=buildyourmemory.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150325051730/http://www.buildyourmemory.com/foreignlanguage.php|archive-date=2015-03-25}}</ref>

Another Spanish example is by using the mnemonic "[[Vin Diesel]] Has Ten Weapons" to teach irregular command verbs in the you ({{Lang|es|tú}}) form. Spanish verb forms and tenses are regularly seen as the hardest part of learning the language. With a high number of verb tenses, and many verb forms that are not found in English, Spanish verbs can be hard to remember and then conjugate. The use of mnemonics has been proven to help students better learn foreign languages, and this holds true for Spanish verbs. A particularly hard verb tense to remember is command verbs. Command verbs in Spanish are conjugated differently depending on who the command is being given to. The phrase, when pronounced with a Spanish accent, is used to remember "Ven Di Sal Haz Ten Ve Pon Sé", all of the irregular Spanish command verbs in the you ({{Lang|es|tú}}) form. This mnemonic helps students attempting to memorize different verb tenses.<ref>{{cite web|title=Irregular Spanish Imperatives Made Easy by Vin Diesel|url=http://www.alwaysspanish.com/2013/02/irregular-spanish-imperative-made-easy.html|website=AlwaysSpanish.com|access-date=5 March 2015|archive-date=18 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150318063036/http://www.alwaysspanish.com/2013/02/irregular-spanish-imperative-made-easy.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
Another technique is for learners of [[Grammatical gender|gendered languages]] to associate their [[mental image]]s of words with a colour that matches the gender in the target language. An example here is to remember the Spanish word for "foot", {{Lang|es|pie}}'','' [pee-eh] with the image of a foot stepping on a pie, which then spills blue filling (blue representing the male gender of the noun in this example).

For French verbs which use être as an auxiliary verb for compound tenses: DR and MRS VANDERTRAMPP: descendre, rester, monter, revenir, sortir, venir, arriver, naître, devenir, entrer, rentrer, tomber, retourner, aller, mourir, partir, passer.

Masculine countries in French (le): "Neither can a breeze make a sane Japanese chilly in the USA." (les) Netherlands (Pays-Bas), Canada, Brazil (Brésil), Mexico (Mexique), Senegal, Japan (Japon), Chile (Chili), & (les) USA (États-Unis d'Amérique).{{Disputed inline|talk=Talk:Mnemonic#Incorrect_example:_Masculine_countries_in_French|date=May 2021}}

===For patients with memory deficits===
{{update|{{doi|10.1002/14651858.CD002293.pub2}} / {{doi|10.1002/14651858.CD002293.pub3}}|date=December 2019}}
Mnemonics can be used in aiding patients with memory deficits that could be caused by [[head injuries]], [[strokes]], [[epilepsy]], [[multiple sclerosis]] and other neurological conditions.

In a study conducted by Doornhein and De Haan, the patients were treated with six different memory strategies including the mnemonics technique. The results concluded that there were significant improvements on the immediate and delayed subtest of the RBMT, delayed recall on the Appointments test, and relatives rating on the MAC from the patients that received mnemonics treatment. However, in the case of stroke patients, the results did not reach statistical significance.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nair |first1=RD |last2=Lincoln |first2=NB |title=Cognitive rehabilitation for memory deficits following stroke |journal=The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews |date=18 July 2007 |issue=3 |pages=CD002293 |doi=10.1002/14651858.CD002293.pub2 |pmid=17636703 |url = http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34518/1/Nair_et_al-2007-The_Cochrane_library.pdf|editor1-last=Lincoln |editor1-first=Nadina }}</ref>