List of visual mnemonics

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Visual mnemonics are a type of mnemonic that work by associating an image with characters or objects whose name sounds like the item that has to be memorized.

Contents

Examples

Digits

Digits can be memorized by their shapes, so that: 0 -looks like an egg, or a ball; 1 -a pencil, or a candle; 2 -a duck, or a swan; 3 -an ear; a pair of pouted lips. 4 -a sail, a yacht; 5 -a key; 6 -a comet; 7 -a knee; 8 -a snowman, or a pair of glasses; 9 -an apostrophe, or comma.

Biochemistry

Zoology

African and Indian elephants' ears resemble their respective maps Elephant visual mnemonic.svg
African and Indian elephants' ears resemble their respective maps
Camel zoo Belgium.jpg
Bactrian camels resemble the letter B
Camelus dromedarius Dvur zoo 1.jpg
Dromedary camels resemble the letter D

Calendar

Knuckle mnemonic Knucklemnemonic.jpg
Knuckle mnemonic

Phases of the Moon

Other languages

  • A Lithuanian mnemonic is that the waxing moon at its first (lith:priešpilnis) quarter phase looks like a 'p', and the waning moon at its last (lith:delčia) quarter looks like a 'd'.
  • A French mnemonic is that the waxing moon at its first (fr:premier) quarter phase looks like a 'p', and the waning moon at its last (fr:dernier) quarter looks like a 'd'. A more childlike mnemonic explains that the moon is a liar: the waxing moon looks like an upper-case D, which would correspond to the French verb décroître (meaning: to shrink) but since she (the moon) is une menteuse (a liar) she is in fact doing the opposite: growing. The waning moon looks like a(n upper-case) C, corresponding to the word croître (meaning: to grow), but will be a lie and therefore mean that the moon is 'shrinking'.
  • In Germany, the curve of the moon was traditionally compared to the beginning stroke of the handwritten small letters a (Abnehmen = waning) and z (Zunehmen = waxing), but since this really makes sense only when thinking of the obsolete German handwriting it is rapidly falling into disuse.
  • A more modern German version compares the moon to a pair of round brackets (German: Klammern):
( = Klammer auf> Abnehmen = waning
) = Klammer zu> Zunehmen = waxing
  • Another Northern Hemisphere mnemonic, which works for most Romance languages, says that the moon is a liar: it spells "C", as in crescere (Latin for "to grow") when it wanes, and "D" as in decrescere ("decrease") when it waxes. Alternatively, it is said that ancient Romans explained that Gods looked at the vault of heaven from above (behind), so they read the letters mirrored.
  • In the Southern Hemisphere, in Spanish-speaking countries, the C represents "Creciente" (waxing) and D "Decreciente" (waning).
  • In the Polish language and Czech language, the D and C can be interpreted as verbs describing the Moon's action: Księżyc się ... (The moon is ...) Dopełnia (waxing) and Cofa (waning); in Czech Měsíc ... (The moon is ...) Dorůstá (waxing) and Couvá (waning). Also, in Polish one might remember that Księżyc będzie ... (The moon will be ...) Duży (big) or Cienki (thin).
  • A Russian mnemonic is that the waxing moon is right part of letter 'Р', which is the first letter of word растущая (growing), and the waning moon looks like 'C' which is first letter of the word стареющая (getting old).
  • A Norwegian mnemonic is "When it looks like a comma, it's coming!" (nor: Når han ser ut som et komma, så kom'an / kom'ern!).
  • In Hebrew the shape of the letter is also correlated to what the rising and waning moon. It is rising when it looks like the cursive ז which is also the first word in זורח (to rise) and the moon is waning when it looks like the cursive ג which is also the first work of גורע (to take away).

Right/left hand mnemonics

See also

References

  1. Robinson, Gordon. The Forest and the Trees. Island Press 1988. ISBN   978-0933280403
  2. "How to Remember the Types of Salmon Species Using the 5 Finger Method".