Mnemonics
Mnemonics
XKCD Presents: Some New Science Mnemonics
(Pattern goes: Subject Elements Traditional mnemonic Contents of frame New mnemonics)
Order of Operations Parentheses, Exponents, Division & Multiplication, Addition & Subtraction Traditional: Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally [Person having a shark delivered to his laptop.] Please Email My Dad A Shark or People Expect More Drugs And Sex
SI Prefixes Big: Kilo, Mega, Giga, Tera, Peta, Exa, Zetta, (Yotta) Milli, Micro, Nano, Pico, Femto, Atto, Zepto, (Yocto) Traditional: [I never learned one.] [Graph of the declining profits of the Zune.] [Karl Marx delivering a number of zeppelins to a bunch of confused proletarians.] Proletarians (off-screen): Er. What do we do with them? Karl Marx: Rise! Big: Karl Marx Gave The Proletariat Eleven Zeppelins(, Yo) Small: Microsoft Made No Profit From Anyone's Zunes(, Yo)
Taxonomy Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species Traditional: King Philip Came Over For Good Sex Katy Perry: I'm not sure who doubts this, really. Katy Perry Claims Orgasms Feel Good Sometimes or Kernel Panics Crash Our Family Game System.
Geologic Periods (Precambrian), Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, Permian, Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous, Paleogene, Neogene Traditional: [I never learned one.] [A month's set of birth control pills.] PolyCystic Ovarian Syndrome Does Cause Problems That Judicious Contraceptves [sic] Partially Negate
Resistor Color Codes Black Brown, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Violet, Gray, White Traditional: [none I care for] [Glenn Beck holding the traditional "Nanobot Vaccine Chemtrail 9/11" sign.] "Big Brother Reptilian Overlords", yelled Glenn, "Brainwashing Via Ground water!!"; or Be Bold, Respect Others; You'll Gradually Become Versatile, Great Wikipedians!
Planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune Traditional: My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nachos [A pregnant Mary attempting to explain things to an incredulous Joseph with black hair and full beard] Mary's "Virgin" Explanation Made Joseph Suspect Upstairs Neighbor.

A mnemonic is a trick that makes memorization easier. To memorize a sequence of names, a common type of mnemonic uses the beginning letters of the names in the sequence and invents another phrase using different words that start with the same letters. For example, the order of operations goes P arentheses, E xponentiation, M ultiplication and D ivision, A ddition and S ubtraction, and the traditional mnemonic goes P lease E xcuse M y D ear A unt S ally, or in Britain: B rackets, I ndices, M ultiplication, D ivision, A ddition and S ubtraction: there is no mnemonic, just the word "BIMDAS" to remember. To make them more memorable, mnemonics are usually quite silly and often vulgar. In this comic, Randall invents various scientific mnemonics, some of them as suggested replacements for traditional ones.
The category is listed at the top of the box, the members are listed below that. Then there is the traditional mnemonic that children are usually taught in school to help them remember. Below the comic is one or two options for new mnemonics suggested by Randall. The top one is illustrated in the frame.
XKCD Presents: Some New Science Mnemonics
(Pattern goes: Subject Elements Traditional mnemonic Contents of frame New mnemonics)
Order of Operations Parentheses, Exponents, Division & Multiplication, Addition & Subtraction Traditional: Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally [Person having a shark delivered to his laptop.] Please Email My Dad A Shark or People Expect More Drugs And Sex
SI Prefixes Big: Kilo, Mega, Giga, Tera, Peta, Exa, Zetta, (Yotta) Milli, Micro, Nano, Pico, Femto, Atto, Zepto, (Yocto) Traditional: [I never learned one.] [Graph of the declining profits of the Zune.] [Karl Marx delivering a number of zeppelins to a bunch of confused proletarians.] Proletarians (off-screen): Er. What do we do with them? Karl Marx: Rise! Big: Karl Marx Gave The Proletariat Eleven Zeppelins(, Yo) Small: Microsoft Made No Profit From Anyone's Zunes(, Yo)
Taxonomy Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species Traditional: King Philip Came Over For Good Sex Katy Perry: I'm not sure who doubts this, really. Katy Perry Claims Orgasms Feel Good Sometimes or Kernel Panics Crash Our Family Game System.
Geologic Periods (Precambrian), Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, Permian, Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous, Paleogene, Neogene Traditional: [I never learned one.] [A month's set of birth control pills.] PolyCystic Ovarian Syndrome Does Cause Problems That Judicious Contraceptves [sic] Partially Negate
Resistor Color Codes Black Brown, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Violet, Gray, White Traditional: [none I care for] [Glenn Beck holding the traditional "Nanobot Vaccine Chemtrail 9/11" sign.] "Big Brother Reptilian Overlords", yelled Glenn, "Brainwashing Via Ground water!!"; or Be Bold, Respect Others; You'll Gradually Become Versatile, Great Wikipedians!
Planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune Traditional: My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nachos [A pregnant Mary attempting to explain things to an incredulous Joseph with black hair and full beard] Mary's "Virgin" Explanation Made Joseph Suspect Upstairs Neighbor.
