Memory Tricks That Work: 50+ Mnemonic Examples
A Comprehensive Guide to Mnemonics: Over 50 Proven Examples Across All Major Types
Mnemonics have existed for thousands of years as a way to store information in memory more efficiently. The word “mnemonic” comes from Mnemosyne, the Greek goddess of memory. Long before digital note-taking and search engines, students, monks, and orators relied on memory techniques to recite long texts, memorize lists, and retain complex information.
Mnemonics work by connecting new information to something more familiar—an image, a rhyme, a phrase, or a spatial location. The human brain is naturally wired to remember patterns, emotion, imagery, and stories. Mnemonics exploit those tendencies.
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There are several major categories:
Acronyms and Initialisms
Acrostics (Phrases where each word begins with the first letter to be remembered)
Rhymes and Songs
Chunking
Visual and Spatial Mnemonics
Remembering Numbers (Major System, Dominic System)
Story-Based Mnemonics
Method of Loci (Memory Palace)
Peg Word Systems
Below, we’ll explore each type and list 50+ real examples people use today.
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1. Acronyms and Initialisms
Acronyms use the first letter of each word to form a new word or sequence. This is one of the most common mnemonic types.
Examples:
PEMDAS – Order of operations in math: Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction.
ROYGBIV – Colors of the rainbow: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet.
HOMES – Great Lakes: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior.
FANBOYS – English coordinating conjunctions: For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So.
FOIL – Math distribution: First, Outer, Inner, Last.
RICE – First aid for injuries: Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation.
SMART – Goal setting: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound.
SCUBA – Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus.
LASER – Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.
NASA – National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
2. Acrostic Sentences (Phrase Mnemonics)
Acrostics create a sentence where each word begins with the letter of what you want to remember.
Examples:
“Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally” – A phrase version of PEMDAS.
“My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos” – Planets in order: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. (Previously “Nine Pizzas” when Pluto was included.)
“Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge” – Musical notes on treble clef lines: E, G, B, D, F.
“FACE” – Spaces in treble clef (F, A, C, E).
“Never Eat Soggy Waffles” – Cardinal directions North, East, South, West.
“Kings Play Cards On Fat Green Stools” – Biological taxonomy: Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species.
“Righty tighty, lefty loosey” – Direction to turn screws or knobs.
“Big Elephants Can Always Understand Small Elephants” – “Because” spelling reminder.
“Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain” – Another rainbow mnemonic.
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3. Rhymes and Songs
Rhyming improves recall due to sound patterns. Songs amplify this effect even more.
Examples:
“I before E, except after C…” – Spelling rule (English).
Alphabet Song (A-B-C song) – Teaches the alphabet sequence.
“Thirty days hath September…” – To remember month lengths.
“In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.” – History date.
“Red sky at night, sailor’s delight…” – Weather prediction rhyme.
“Lefty loosey, righty tighty” – Rhyming direction rule (also an acrostic-style phrase).
Even commercial jingles (like phone numbers in ads) function as mnemonic rhymes.
4. Chunking (Grouping Information)
Chunking is breaking large data sets into digestible pieces.
Examples:
Phone numbers grouped into (555) 123-4567 instead of 5551234567.
Credit cards grouped into 4-4-4-4 digits.
Social security numbers: 123-45-6789.
Memorizing long binary or password strings by dividing them into segments (e.g., “DOG-CAR-SUN”).
Language vocabulary lists grouped by category (food, travel, numbers, etc.).
Psychologists refer to the average chunk limit as 7 ± 2, based on George Miller’s research.
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5. Visual / Image Mnemonics
These mnemonics turn information into vivid images.
Examples:
To remember “CAT” in Spanish is “gato,” picture a cat wearing a karate gi, kicking like a fighter (sounds like “gato”).
To learn the word “baker”, imagine a man covered in flour.
To remember Australia, visualize a map shaped like a dog’s head (a common mental image).
A stop sign reminds people of the word STOP, making it a visual mnemonic.
Visual mnemonics work because the brain remembers images more easily than abstract concepts.
6. Peg System (Number-to-Word Association)
The Peg System associates numbers with rhyming words:
1 = bun
2 = shoe
3 = tree
4 = door
5 = hive
6 = sticks
7 = heaven
8 = gate
9 = line (sometimes “wine”)
10 = hen
Example:
If you need to remember “buy eggs, vacuum, pay rent”:
Buy eggs → imagine eggs in a bun (1 = bun)
Vacuum → imagine a vacuum inside a shoe (2 = shoe)
Pay rent → imagine your landlord hiding behind a tree (3 = tree)
Peg system rhyme list (1–10)
Using pegs to recall grocery lists or speeches
7. Method of Loci (Memory Palace)
This is one of the oldest mnemonic techniques—used by ancient Greek orators.
Examples:
Imagining walking through your house while each room represents a point in your speech.
Memory competitors placing a sequence of faces or decks of cards into mental “locations.”
Associating shopping items with landmarks along a familiar route.
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8. The Major System (Converting Numbers into Sounds)
A number-to-consonant conversion method used by world memory champions:
Digits are associated with consonant sounds:
0 = S/Z
1 = T/D
2 = N
3 = M
4 = R
5 = L
6 = J/SH/CH
7 = K/G
8 = F/V
9 = P/B
Example:
The number 34 becomes M-R → “mirror.”
The number 57 becomes L-K → “lock.”
People convert numbers into words (visualizable) instead of raw digits.
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9. Dominic System
Used for memorizing long numbers, especially credit cards or dates. Each two-digit number becomes a person with a unique action (e.g., 15 = Albert Einstein writing) using initials.
19 = Arnold Schwarzenegger lifting
32 = Charlie Chaplin dancing
10. Story-Based Mnemonics (Narrative Memory)
Stories create emotional context, which strengthens memory.
Examples:
Remembering a shopping list by telling a story:
“Milk spills on bread, then eggs roll into a giant banana…”
Remembering a complicated password by turning the characters into a sentence.
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11. Alliteration and Association
Examples:
“Seven Sins: pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, sloth” remembered because the list uses strong emotional association.
“Loose lips sink ships” – WWII government propaganda to prevent leaks.
“Big Black Bugs Bleed Blue Blood.” – Alliteration to improve articulation.
12. Spelling Mnemonics
Examples:
“There is a rat in separate.”
“To spell dessert, remember: you want two S’s because you want seconds.”
“Arithmetic: A Rat In The House May Eat The Ice Cream.”
“Friend ends in ‘end’ because friends stay to the end.”
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Conclusion
Mnemonics remain one of the most powerful tools for learning. They are universal, timeless, and adaptable to any subject—languages, math, music, science, geography, or daily life. Whether using acronyms like PEMDAS, visual imagery, songs, the Memory Palace, or the Major System, every technique shares the same philosophy:
The brain remembers what is meaningful, emotional, visual, and structured.
Once someone learns how to build their own mnemonics, memorization transforms from a struggle into a creative act. Instead of forcing information into the brain, mnemonics give the brain something interesting to remember.