Mnemonics
Because
"Big Elephants Can Always Understand Small Elephants. "
Clocks Forward or Backwards
"Spring Forward, Fall Back"
Colours of the Rainbow
Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain.
(Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet)
Days in each Month
"Thirty days hath September,
April, June and November;
All the rest have thirty one
Except for February which has twenty eight!
(And twenty nine each leap year)"
DESERT or DESSERT
‘Do you eat DESERT or DESSERT?’
Answer: ‘You eat deSSert because you get twice as much!’
Diarrhoea
Dash In A Real Rush. Hurry Or Else Accident
Henry VIII and his six wives
He divorced two of them, another died, two had their heads chopped off on his orders and one survived him.
The order of the wives was: Catherine of Aragon Anne Boleyn Jane Seymour Anne of Cleves Catherine Howard Catherine Parr.
This is the rhyme that tells you what happened to them, in order: DIVORCED, BEHEADED, DIED DIVORCED, BEHEADED, SURVIVED!
I before E
IF IT RHYMES WITH ‘TREE’, THEN I BEFORE E EXCEPT AFTER C.
For example: fIEld, chIEf, achIEve, pIEce BUT recEIve, cEIling, concEIt.
Unfortunately, this doesn’t always work. Here are two common exceptions: WEIRD is a weird spelling and so is SEIZE.
Necessary
Never Eat Crabs, Eat Salmon Sandwiches And Remain Young.
Points on a Compass and Direction
"Never Eat Shredded Wheat"
North, East, South, West
Port and Starboard
"Port is left and both words have four letters. Starboard is right and both words are longer."
Remember how to turn a nut or screw
"Lefty, loosey; righty, tighty!"
Remember the names of the Planets and their Order
"My Very Eccentric Mother Just Shot Uncle Norman's Pig"
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto
Note: Pluto is no longer considered a planet.
Roman Numbers
The Romans used letters to represent their numbers and we still sometimes use Roman numerals today:
I = 1 V = 5 X = 10 L = 50 C = 100 D = 500 M = 1000
Remember the order with this sentence:
It’s Very X-citing! Lucky Cats Drink Milk.
Stationary and Stationery
These two words are easy to get confused. One means paper, envelopes and other office equipment. The other means not moving. The way to tell which is which is to remember that:
Envelopes are a type of stationEry. When they are pARked, cARs are stationARy.
Sun Rise & Sunset
How can you remember that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west?
E STANDS FOR EARLY AND EAST.
The Great Plague & Fire of London
The Great Plague (otherwise known as bubonic plague) killed about 100,000 people in London in 1665. The following year, most of the city was burned down after a fire started above a baker’s shop in the city.
IN 1665, THE PLAGUE LEFT FEW ALIVE. IN 1666, LONDON BURNED LIKE STICKS.
Weather Forecasting
"Red sky at night, shepherd's delight. Red sky at morning, shepherd's warning"
Weights and Measures
A metre measures three foot three, it's longer than a yard, you see.
A litre of water's a pint and three-quarters.
Two-and-a-quarter pounds of jam weigh about a kilogram.
Yours Sincerely
If you start a letter with: ‘DEAR SIR OR MADAM’
You must finish it with: ‘YOURS FAITHFULLY’
If you address a letter to: ‘MR, MRS OR DR’
You must end with: ‘YOURS SINCERELY’
The rule is that two Ss never go together: SIR never goes with SINCERELY