mnemonic

Everyday

1. A mnemonic is a trick that helps you remember something, like a rhyme, a saying or a word made from first letters. tree →
2. Mnemonic means helping the memory. tree →

In the lessons

In school mnemonics are everywhere: «Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain» for rainbow colours (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet), «Never Eat Shredded Wheat» for compass points, «BIDMAS/PEMDAS» for order of operations in maths, «Big Elephants Can Always Understand Small Elephants» to spell «because». Phrases: «a mnemonic for», «use a mnemonic».

Examples

• «Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain» is a mnemonic for the rainbow. tree →
• BIDMAS is a mnemonic for the order of operations. tree →
• «Never Eat Shredded Wheat» helps you remember North, East, South, West. tree →
• I made up a mnemonic to remember the planets. tree →
• «Thirty days hath September» is a mnemonic rhyme. tree →
• A mnemonic helped me spell «necessary»: one collar, two sleeves. tree →

Note

The first «m» is silent: said «nih-MON-ik». Countable. From Greek «mnēmē» (memory). In maths: BIDMAS (UK), BODMAS, PEMDAS (US) all mean brackets/parentheses first, then powers, then × and ÷ left to right, then + and − left to right.