Here are some mnemonics in English.

Table of contents

1 Computing 1.1 OSI Networking Model 1.2 HTML & CSS 1.3 Electronic Colour Codes 2 Nautical 3 Language 3.1 Spelling 3.2 Phonetics 4 Music 5 Time 5.1 Daylight Saving Time 5.2 Months 6 Science 6.1 Biology 6.2 Medicine 6.3 Color 6.4 Geography 6.5 Geology 6.6 Chemistry 6.7 Planets 6.8 Astronomy 7 Zodiac 8 Mathematics 8.1 Metric System 8.2 Order of operations 8.3 Pi 8.4 Trigonometry

Computing

OSI Networking Model

• Please Do Not Throw Sausage Pizza Away
• Please Do Not Tell Sales People Anything
  • Physical Layer, Data Link Layer, Network Layer, Transport Layer, Session Layer, Presentation Layer, Application Layer

Or you can start from the top:

• All People Seem To Need Data Processing

HTML & CSS

The right order to specify the link state pseudo-classes in Cascading Style Sheets

• LoVe HAte

link, visited, hover, active

• TRBL (Trouble)

Top, Right, Bottom, Left

Electronic Colour Codes

• Better Be Right Or Your Great Big Venture Goes West

Black, Brown, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Violet, Grey, White

• Bad Boys Raped One Young Girl Behind Victoria Garden Wall

Black, Brown, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Violet, Grey, White

• Bad Boys Rape Our Young Girls But Violet Gives Willingly

Black, Brown, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Violet, Grey, White

Nautical

Concerning the weather:

• "Red sky at night, sailor's delight; red sky in morning, sailor take warning" (or "... shepherd's warning")

Concerning safe navigation in IALA region B:

• "Red Right Returning" - When navigating between a red and green channel marker pair, keep the red marker to starboard when returning to the harbor from the sea.

To remember that port is red and to the left (and that starboard is green and to the right):

• "There is some red port left in the bottle"

To remember that in Sag the ends of the boat are pointing upwards while the midship section is lower (and that in Hog the ends are pointing downwards while the midship section is higher):

• "Sag is not Sad" (Yeah, you will have to think of the smiley!)

The legend printed on tickets of passengers on P&O (Peninsula and Orient) passenger vessels when travelling between UK and India in the days of the Raj.

• Port Out Starboard Home (POSH)

Converting magnetic to true heading:

• Can Dead Men Vote Twice At Elections)? - Compass + Deviation = Magnetic + Variation = True (Add for East corrections)
• Timid Virgins Make Dull Company (After Weddings) - True + Variation = Magnetic + Deviation = Compass (Add for West corrections)

Language

Spelling

To remember a rule of English spelling (there are several exceptions):

• I before E, except after C, or when used as an "a" as in neighbor or weigh.

To remember how to spell the word "mnemonics" :

• Mnemonics Now Erase Man's Oldest Nemesis, Insufficient Cerebral Storage
  • You must remember how to spell the word to use the mnemonic, but it does stick in your head.

Argument or arguement?

• I lost an 'e' in an argument

Remembering to spell "cemetery" with three e's:

• She cried "eee!" as she passed the cemetery.

Friend or Freind?

• Always frie your friends.
• Friend ends with end.

To spell "rhythm":

• Rhythm Has Your Two Hips Moving

To spell "necessary":

• Never Eat Crisps, Eat Salad Sandwiches, And Remain Young!

To spell "arithmetic":

• A Rat In Tom's House Might Eat Tom's Ice Cream

To spell "Mississippi":

• Say to yourself "M I double S, I double S, I double P, I" (try it - it will make more sense than seeing it written down!).

Phonetics

The manners of articulation:

• Stop Fooling Around Now, Learn Good Voicing
  • Stop, Fricative, Affricate, Nasal, Liquid, Glide, Vowel

Music

To remember the order of the notes represented by the lines on a musical staff that shows treble clef :

• Every good boy deserves fudge (or favour or fun)
• Every good boy deserves fudge and cookies
• Every good boy does fine
• Every great big dog farts
• Every gorilla breaks down fences
• Empty garbage before dad flips
• Elephants go bouncing down freeways

The corresponding spaces in the treble clef spell the word F A C E. The equivalents for the lines of the bass clef are:

• Good boys deserve fun always.
• Good boys don't fight and cuss
• Gorillas break down fences always
• Garbage before dad flips always
• Great big ducks fly away

The spaces in the bass clef are:

• All cows eat grass
• All cars eat gas

The order for adding sharps for sharp keys. Say backwards for flat keys.

• Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle.
• Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles' Father.

(or Charles Frederick)

• Also Fat Carmen Gets Drunk At Every Bar for sharp keys.
• And Fat Cats Go Down Alleys Eating Bugs

The order of the musical modes as based on the white keys of a piano starting with C:

• I Don't Play Like Mariachis After Lunch.
• I Don't Play Like My Aunt Lucy.
  • Ionian mode, Dorian mode, Phrygian mode, Lydian mode, Mixolydian mode, Aeolian mode, Locrian mode.

To remember the order of strings on a standard tuned guitar

• Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie
• Elephants And Donkeys Grow Big Ears
• Eat All Day, Get Big Easy

Or in the other order

• Easter Bunnies Get Drunk At Easter

Time

Daylight Saving Time

How to reset your clock for Daylight Saving Time :

• "Spring forward, fall back."

Months

To remember the lengths of the months in the Gregorian calendar :

• Thirty days hath September ,
  April , June , and November ;
  All the rest have thirty-one
  Excepting February alone,
  Which hath but twenty-eight in fine
  Till leap year give it twenty-nine.

or

• Thirty days hath September ,
  April , June , and November ;
  After February 's done,
  all the rest have thirty-one.

which requires you to specifically remember that February has 28 days.

July and all odd numbered months before it have 31 days. August and all even numbered months after it have 31 days. February has 29 days if the year is divisible by 4 (excepting special cases we likely won't live to see), otherwise it has 28 days.

Another version, non-verbal, taking advantage of the previous: Make a fist like to punch someone or to knock fists with them. The knuckles at the back of your hand for your 4 fingers hold the answer as to which months have 31 days: Jan is knuckle, Feb is space between, Mar is next knuckle, ..., over to Jul is 4th knuckle. Ignore your thumb. Start back towards the starting point. Aug is 4th knuckle, Sep is space between, Oct is 3rd knuckle, ... to Dec.

Science

Biology

To remember Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species:

• Katey Please Come Over For Ginger Snaps
• Kings Play Chess On Fine Grain Sand
• Keep Pots Clean Or Family Gets Sick
• Kings Play Chess On Funny Green Squares
• Kinky People Cry Out For Good Sex
• King Phillip Came Over From Germany, Swimming.
• King Phillip, Come Out For God's Sake!
• King Phillip Cried, "Oh For Goodness' Sake!"
• King Phillip Came Over From Great Spain.
• King Phillip Choked On Four Gob Stoppers.
• King Phillip's Court Ordered Fifty Green Spiders.
• Karl Penetrates Canines On Funky Green Spacehoppers.

To remember Domain Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species:

• Do Keep Police Cars Off Florida's Great Streets
• Do Keep Papers Coming Or Fail Gardner's Science

To remember the difference between "supine " and "prone ":

• In muggings, muggers must attack
  The victim's proper zone;
  The belly if he's supine
  And the spine if he is prone.

Medicine

To remember the difference between supination of the wrist and pronation of the wrist:

• You supinate your wrist to hold a bowl of soup.

Names of cranial nerves (I-Olfactory, II-Optic, III-Oculomotor, IV-Trochlear, V-Trigeminal, VI-Abducens, VII-Facial, VIII-Vestibulocochlear, IX-Glossopharyngeal, X-Vagus, XI-Accessory, XII-Hypoglossal):

• (Vet school version): On Old Olympus's Towering Top, A Fat Vicious Goat Vandalized A Hat.
• (Med school version): Oh, Oh, Oh... To Touch A Fine Virgin Girl's Vulva And Hymen.

Whether each cranial nerve, ordered I to XII, is Sensory , Motor , or Both:

• Some Say Marry Money But My Brother Says Big Boobs Matter More.

To remember which is which between phimosis and paraphimosis :

• The longer word is the "longer" disease.

To remember which Tricyclic antidepressants (TCA's) are tertiary amines:

• There is an "m" in the first four letters of each but doxepin. An "m" is a "3" turned on it's side. The secondary amines lack the early "m".

To remember not to use TCA's with thyroid medications:

• Thyroid Can't Accomodate! (Other Behavioral drugs don't have this contraindication.)

To remember the relative half-lives of the Opioid antagonists : "Naltrexone" is longer and longer-acting than "naloxone".

Color

To remember the colors of the rainbow (red orange yellow green blue indigo violet ) in order:

• Roy G. Biv
• Richard of York gave battle in vain.
• Richard of York got buggered in Venice.
• Run off Young girls boys in view.

Or, a reverse: Virgin in bed get your organ ready.

Geography

To remember the points of a compass:

• Never Eat Soggy Waffles (clockwise!).
• Never Eat Sour Watermelon.
• Never Eat Slimy Worms.
• Naughty Elephants Squirt Water.
• Never Eat Shredded Wheat.

To remember West and East, the single word "WE" may help.

Geology

Pregnant Camels Ordinarily Sit Down Carefully. Perhaps Their Joints Creak (Possible Early Oiling Might Prevent Poor Health)

eras: Precambrian, Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, Permian, Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous (Cenozoic: Paleocene, Eocene, Oligocene, Miocene, Pliocene, Pleistocene, Holocene)

Chemistry

To remember the Periodic table of the elements:

• The first row:
  • He Likes Beer But Can Not Obtain Food
  • Harry, He Likes Beer By Cups Not OverFlowing
• The second row:
  • Negress Named Magnolia Alters Sister's Photos Surprisingly Cleverly.
  • Nelly's Naughty Mg Allows Silly People Some Clatter Around Katie's Carpark
• The third row:
  • A(r) Kopper Called Scarface Tim, Very Crafty Man, (Fe) inCoNito Cunning Zena, Gave Gertie A(s) Severe Bruise.

To memorize which elements can only be found in molecular form:

• HNFOIClBr (Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Fluorine, Oxygen, Iodine, Chlorine, Bromine)
  • Have No Fear Of Ice Cold Beer

To remember what happens during oxidation and reduction:

• OIL RIG (Oxidation is losing electrons, reduction is gaining electrons)

• Electron Loss Means Oxidation

• LEO the lion, GER! (Losing Electrons Oxidation, Gaining Electrons Reduction)

To remember what elements can form hydrogen bonds when bonded to hydrogen.

• Hydrogen is FON! (fun). Fluorine Oxygen Nitrogen.

Planets

To remember the planets in order of distance from the sun:

• NOTE: Pluto was closer to the sun than Neptune from 1979 to 1999, and it is for 20 years every 248 years because of its elliptical orbit
• My very easy mnemonic just summed up nine planets
• My very educated mother just served us nine pizzas.
• My very eager mother just served us nine pizzas.
• My very energetic mother just swam under north pier.
• Many very early men just stayed up nights planning (planting).
• Martha visits every monday and just stays until noon period.
  • (This childhood version uses 'and' to indicate the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter)
• Many voracious earthlings may jump soon upon new planets.
• My very elegant mohair jumper spoilt using nasty persil.
• My very easy method: just set up nine planets.
• My very easy method just speeds up naming planets.
• Saturday Morning Very Early Michael And John Sold Used News Papers.
• Mr V Easily Met June Saturday Until Nine PM
• Most Volcanoes Erupt Mulberry Jam Sandwiches Under Normal Pressure
• Men Very Easily Make Jugs Serve Useful Needs
• My Very Easy Method Just Saves Us Naming Planets
• Most of the Voters Earn Money Just by Showing Up Next to the Poll (in a Isaac Asimov novel called most of the voters..)

Astronomy

To remember spectral classes:

• O Be A Fine Girl, Kiss Me Right Now Sweetheart
• On Boring Afternoons Five Gorillas Keep Mrs. Richard Nixon Silent

Zodiac

To remember the order of the signs of the zodiac :

• The Ram , the Bull , the heavenly Twins ,
  and next the Crab , the Lion shines,
  the Virgin and the Scales ;
  the Scorpion , Archer , and the Goat ,
  the Man who carries the Watering Pot,
  and Fish with glittering scales.

Mathematics

Metric System

To remember the order of the metric system:
King Henry Drinks Much Dark Chocolate Milk
(Kilometer, hectometer, decameter, meter, decimeter, centimeter, milimeter)
--Meter can be replaced with any other systems of measurement such as 'gram' or 'liter'
The Gooey Monster May Not Pick Five Apples
Tera, Giga, Mega, Micro, Nano, Pico, Femto, Atto (the others above are much more standard and easier to remember)

Order of operations

To remember the correct order of operations :

• Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally.

(Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction)

• BEDMAS

(Brackets Exponentiation Division Multiplication Addition Subtraction)

• BIDMAS

(Brackets Indices Division Multiplication Addition Subtraction)

• BODMAS

(Brackets Operations Division Multiplication Addition Subtraction)

• FOIL

(First Outer Inner Last) For problems such as (2x+4)(2x+4)

Pi

pi (π) = 3.14159265358979......................

See Piphilology

• "How I want a drink, alcoholic of course, after the heavy lectures involving quantum mechanics!"
  • the number of letters in each word of the phrase is a decimal of pi (by Isaac Asimov)
• "For a girl I loved contrived; by nature tough, her heart survived"
• "Can I have a large container of coffee"
• "How I wish I could calculate pi quickly"
• "Man, I can't, I shant / formulate an anthem where the words comprise mnemonics / dreaded mnemonics for pi / The numerals just bother me, always / even the dry anterior / try to request something lower (zero) / in numerary aptitude, even I, pantaloon gallant / I cannot actualize the requested mnemonic / the leading fifty, I..." (from Songs To Wear Pants To)

Trigonometry

To remember the formulas for right-triangle trigonometric functions:

• Some Old Ho Caught Another Ho Taking Oscar Away
• Some Old Horse Caught Another Horse Taking Oats Away.
• Some Old Hags Can't Always Hide Their Old Age.
• Oh Heck Another Hour Of Algebra. (remembering the order: Sin, Cos, Tan)
• Ten Old Angels, Sitting On Heaven, Carrying A Harp
• Signs Of Happiness Come After Having Tabs Of Acid
• SOHCAHTOA (similar in pronunciation to Krakatoa)

(Sine = opposite / hypotenuse; Cosine = adjacent / hypotenuse; Tangent = opposite / adjacent)

• Some Old Horses Catch A Horrible Type Of Alement

(Sine = opposite / Hypotenuse; Cosine = adjacent / Hypotenuse; Tangent = opposite / Adjacent)

Another variation to remember the formulas for right-triangle trigonometric functions:

• Some People Have , Curly Brown Hair , Till Painted Black.

(Sine = Perpendicular / Hypotenuse; Cosine = Base / Hypotenuse; Tangent = Perpendicular / Base)