Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Mnemonics drill

For a recent nutrition test, I had to memorize the eight B vitamins in order. I came up with a helpful mnemonic: To Remember, Not Botch, Peanut Butter For Breakfast. And though I did not, in fact, have peanut butter with my morning meal on the day of the test, I did manage to remember thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, biotin, pantothenic acid, B6, folate, and B12. I told my friend and coworker Sheri about TRNBPBFB, and she sent me this:
Whenever I hear "mnemonic devices," I remember Bart Simpson's classic:

"Canada's governors general: Clowns Love Haircuts; So Should Lee Marvin's Valet."
To which I replied, reasonably enough: "What does it stand for?" Here's her response:
Thank you, Wikipedia:

When Bart is listing mnemonics, one he uses is "Quiet nerds burp only near school," to remember the original four Canadian provinces. (Quebec, New Brunswick, Ontario, and Nova Scotia.

Another mnemonic Bart uses is for the Canadian Governors General, "Clowns love haircuts, so should Lee Marvin's valet" (Adrienne Clarkson, Roméo LeBlanc, Ray Hnatyshyn, Jeanne Sauvé, Edward Schreyer, Jules Léger, Roland Michener, and Georges Vanier)
Classic.

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