Verbal or visual formulas or actions used as aids in memorizing and recalling dates,
numbers, grammatical rules, formulas, work-related knowledge, or other information
considered important but difficult to remember. The term “mnemonic” is derived from
the ancient Greek word mnemonikos, “of or pertaining to memory,” and is related to the
name of Mnemosyne, the ancient Greek goddess of memory. Used extensively by
preliterate cultures, mnemonics remain common today in educational, scientific, and
occupational settings, as well as in everyday life.
Some mnemonic devices involve actions taken to modify an object, which then
represents the information to be recalled. The common method of keeping a tally by
writing four lines crossed by a fifth is such a device, as is tying a string around one’s
finger as a reminder.
Some mnemonic systems, including many popularized through books and magazine
articles, are based on visualization techniques. For example, in order to remember a new
acquaintance’s name, one visualizes an image derived from the sound of the person’s
name. These methods are not strictly traditional, but rather have roots in ancient Greek
memory systems.
Most modern mnemonic devices are verbal. Many take the form of short rhymes,
phrases, and even songs. For example, many children are introduced to the alphabet
through the “ABC Song,” memorize the rhyme “Thirty days hath September,” and learn
the spelling rule “i before e except after c.” Numerous traditional rhymes, such as “Rain
before seven, clear by eleven” and “Year of snow, fruit will grow,” were once used by
farmers and sailors to remember agricultural and weather-related knowledge and often
incorporated folk beliefs. Even advertising slogans and jingles function as implicit
mnemonic devices that keep the name of the product or business in the mind of the
hearer.
Verbal mnemonics may also consist of alphabetical or numerical lists of related
information. For instance, the “ABC’s of emergency care” (airway, breathing,
circulation) help doctors, nurses, and paramedics recall the proper order of treatment
priorities in their patients. Another medical mnemonic, “the four f’s of gall bladder
disease” (fat, female, forty, and flatulent), lists characteristics typical of patients with this
ailment.
Mnemonics based on various letter-number codes are common. Telephone number
mnemonics, for example, consist of short words or phrases created from the letters
associated with the appropriate numbers on the telephone dial. Businesses often create
telephone mnemonics in which the meaning of the mnemonic word or phrase recalls the
nature of the merchandise or services offered.
Many verbal mnemonics take the form of acrostics, sentences in which the initial
letters of each word match the first letter of each bit of information to be remembered.
For instance, the mnemonics “On old Olympus towering tops, a Finn and German viewed
some hops” and “Oh, oh, oh, to taste, touch, and feel a girl’s vagina so heavenly,” both in circulation among medical students, represent the names and order of the cranial nerves:
olfactory, optic, oculomotor, trochlear, trigeminal, abducens, facial, acoustic,
glossopharyngeal, vagal, spinal accessory, and hypoglossal. The use of shorter, acronymlike words and phrases is also common. For example, in physics, the name “Roy G.Biv”
represents the order of colors of the spectrum: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo,
and violet). Many acrostic mnemonics are bawdy and reflect the predominantly male
composition of the groups during the time they were created.
Whatever the form of the mnemonic, its underlying technique remains the same. The
mnemonic attempts to create within the mind of its user a gestalt, a unified mental
construct consisting of both the mnemonic and the information for which it stands. When
one remembers the mnemonic, one remembers at the same time the material it encodes.
Some mnemonics build image or word patterns linked semantically or through similarity
of sound to the information they represent. Others, however, create an association that is
purely arbitrary. These mnemonics must be decoded by the user. In either case, stylistic
devices such as rhyme, meter, and music may be used to reinforce the linkage of the
mnemonic and its referents, making both easier to memorize.
The arbitrary relationship of many mnemonics to the material they represent is the
inherent weakness of the genre and the reason for the ambivalence often felt about the
more elaborate, fanciful devices. Many people learn them enthusiastically and even
create their own, but others find the mnemonics themselves difficult to remember and,
therefore, of little value. Although the sexual imagery of the bawdy mnemonics makes
them easier to recall than most, many people find that they retain the mnemonic itself far
longer than the material it is designed to help them remember.
Anne Burson-Tolpin
References
Brakeley, Theresa C. [1949–1950] 1972. Mnemonic Device. InFunk and Wagnalls Standard
Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend, ed. Maria Leach and Jerome Fried. New York:
Funk and Wagnalls, pp. 734–740.
Dundes, Alan. 1961. Mnemonic Devices. Midwest Folklore 11:139–147