It is ironic that the name of a mental device which is supposed to make our lives easier is itself so hard to spell. Is there a mnemonic for the spelling of mnemonic?
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1I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, but I do hope you're not just trying to be clever in a question.– RobustoCommented Feb 6, 2011 at 19:21
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5It's easier for me to remember "the way it sounds plus an extra M" than to remember another mnemonic.– user502Commented Feb 6, 2011 at 19:23
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1@Robusto - I was reading the answer to a different question to my daughter (aged 13) and asked is she had any good questions, which is how this came up. I think she genuinely wanted to know an easy to remember way to spell mnemonic.– ukayerCommented Feb 6, 2011 at 20:07
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1I, for one, pronounce both the m and the n at the beginning of mnemonic, but this is not standard and is just a quirk of mine. I also like to pronounce the g at the beginning of gnu, the p at the beginning of ptarmigan, and other such aberrations.– JSBձոգչCommented Feb 6, 2011 at 21:44
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2I picture Monica from the TV show "Friends" (whom I find quite attractive) with a big M tattooed on her knee. You know, an M on the knee of Monica = mnemonic. Hey, whatever works for you!– rhetoricianCommented Feb 23, 2013 at 2:04
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12 Answers
Sure; repeat to yourself my niece is mnemonic.
This assumes that the mn is the source of difficulty and you don't need a mnemonic for the rest of the word.
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1+1. I'm convinced you made this up on the spot, which would be awesome.– jpreteCommented Nov 15, 2011 at 1:13
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It might help to associate it to a word which is related etymologically: amnesia.
A collection of mnemonics for mnemonic from the web:
- Memorization's Not Easy; Memory Often Needs Initial Cues
- My Nanny Eats Mostly Old Noodles In Cans
- Memory Needs Every Means Of Naming It Correctly
- Mnemonics Neatly Eliminate Man's Only Nemesis - Insufficient Cerebral Storage
- Many Nuns Enjoy Monks Only Not In Convents
But I think the best is @Peter Taylor's simple suggestion to remember amnesia.
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2I'd find it easier to just remember the letters than try to remember the 4th one.– UrbycozCommented Nov 15, 2011 at 12:35
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If it were a class of words you're talking about, I'd say a mnemonic would be useful. But as you are referring to a single instance, why create a mnemonic that you will have to remember (and may get wrong) to remember a single word? That adds an unnecessary burden (and abstraction) to the task.
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Mnemonics are just as much about specific instances as for general ones - for example, the use of "Naughty Elephants Squirt Water" to remember the clockwise order of the cardinal compass points.– HorusKolCommented Feb 6, 2011 at 22:59
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4@HorusKoi: That's four things, not one thing, and an order. Similarly, "I Don't Play Like My Aunt Lucy" lets you remember the musical modes: (Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Myxolydian, Aeolian, Locrian) helps you remember seven things. My point is, a contrivance to help you remember a single word's spelling is actually forcing you to remember a lot more than just the spelling.– RobustoCommented Feb 7, 2011 at 1:07
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M N E M O N I C.
Two M's
Two N's
M always comes before N
Never a P!
Never a U!
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3@PranavHosangadi, I think some people mistakenly think mnemonic is related to pneumonia, and come up with creative misspellings based on that.– MarthaªCommented Nov 15, 2011 at 20:09
Maybe try these to remember how to spell MNEMONICS:
- Men Never Eat Many Oysters Near Ice Cold Swamps
- Many New England Memories Of Nantuckett Ice Cold Shrimp
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[A]: Men Never Eat Many .. what was it again? [B]: Dude, what are you talking about? [A]: I'm trying to recall the mnemonics for mnemonics .. [B]: D'uh! ;)– LukmanCommented Jun 23, 2011 at 9:35
My niece enjoys mnemonics only never in class.
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1But that requires you to remember that mnemonics starts with an m.– UrbycozCommented Nov 15, 2011 at 12:37
My nanny Eva makes oranges not inch closer.
It's a weird one, but that's how it got stuck in my head!
Angry at his last trickery, Seinfeld said: "Mmmm... Newman!"
A bit more in the scientific side: pneumatics, air brakes on buses, trucks and trains are examples of pneumatic systems.
My 11 year old has just been interviewing people for his English project on spelling strategies and just came up with what I thought was a good mnemonic for mnemonic-
Men Never Eat Marmalade On Nice Ice Creams
"mnemonic" is based on ancient Greek mnéme μνήμη meaning memory. I'm no great specialist for old Greek so I'm not sure whether the m was really pronounced and I can't give information about the etymology of the word. I would guess something that is in the mind, memories you have in your head.
Hmmm? How to remember how to spell nemonic? (sic)
Hmmm! Spell phonetically by jogging your memory... mnemonic.
