MNEMONICS
COLORS OF THE RAINBOW
Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet — Roy G. Biv (not a very common name, admittedly)
THE ORDER OF GEOLOGICAL TIME PERIODS
Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, Permian, Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous, Paleocene, Eocene, Oligocene, Miocene, Pliocene, Pleistocene, Recent — Cows Often Sit Down Carefully. Perhaps Their Joints Creak? Persistent Early Oiling Might Prevent Painful Rheumatism
THE COUNTRIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA IN GEOGRAPHICAL ORDER
Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama — BeeGee’s Hen! See [C] ’er pee?
THE ORDER OF MOHS HARDNESS SCALE, FROM 1 TO 10
Talc, Gypsum, Calcite, Fluorite, Apatite, Orthoclase feldspar, Quartz, Topaz, Corundum, Diamond — Toronto Girls Can Flirt, And Other Queer Things Can Do
THE ORDER OF SHARPS IN MUSIC
FCGDAEB — Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle
THE ORDER OF NOTES TO WHICH GUITAR STRINGS SHOULD BE TUNED
EBGDAE — Easter Bunnies Get Drunk At Easter
THE ORDER OF TAXONOMY IN BIOLOGY
Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species — Kids Prefer Cheese Over Fried Green Spinach
THE FOUR OCEANS
Indian, Arctic, Atlantic, Pacific — I Am A Person
THE SEVEN CONTINENTS
Europe, Antarctica, Asia, Africa, Australia,
North America, South America — Eat AN
ASpirin AFter AUgmenting Noah’s Ship
THE GREAT LAKES
Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior — HOMES
THE GREAT LAKES IN ORDER OF SIZE
Superior, Huron, Michigan, Erie, Ontario —Sam’s Horse Must Eat Oats
THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA
South Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama, Arkansas, Virginia, Mississippi, Florida, Tennessee and Texas — Sultry Carol Languished Grumpily Near Carl, Always Aware Virginal Men Frequently Take Time
WHERE’S IT FROM?
NEWS AS AN ACRONYM FOR ‘NORTH, EAST, WEST, SOUTH’
The news is gathered from all four corners of the world so why shouldn’t it derive its name from those four corners? Unfortunately, this is almost certainly one of those explanations that occurred to people after the word had already been invented. In other words, it’s a ‘bacronym’.
Quite simply, the word ‘news’ is the plural of the word ‘new’. In other words, the news consists of new things that are happening. It was only later that people said, ‘These are the first four lettters of the four main points of the compass: it must explain the use of the word “news”.’
