Mnemonics, Palindromes and word related items of interest.

A way to remember the order of the planets in our solar system has been sent in by Diana -

Most Vegetarians Eat Mouldy Jam Sandwiches Under No Pressure.

MERCURY
VENUS
EARTH
MARS
JUPITER
SATURN
URANUS
NEPTUNE
PLUTO

An alternative version has been received from Caroline Noon -

My Very Easy Method Just Speeds Up Naming Planets  !!

Another suggestion from Amante Darmanin

My Very Energetic Mum Just Swam Under North Pier

All that you have got to do now is remember the first "M" equals Mercury and the second "M" is Mars.

 Of course Pluto is no longer considered a planet so, perhaps, we are going to have to think up some new ones!

Colours of the rainbow -

Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain

Amante Darmanin

Something similar is used in electronics. The resistors are colour coded either Black(0), brown(1), red(2) orange(3), yellow(4), green(5), blue(6), violet(7), grey(8), white(9) 

Bad Beer Rots Our Young Guts But Vodka Goes Well

I am not sure if this applies worldwide.

Amante Darmanin

PALINDROME (a word or phrase that reads the same backward as forward) -

Neil, a trap! Sid is part alien!, 

Was it a rat I saw?

A man, a plan, a canal Panama!

Rise to vote, sir

No Roman a moron

Madam, in Eden I'm Adam

So many dynamos

Lager, sir, is regal

Go hang a salami, Bob, I'm a Lasagna hog

Cigar? Toss it in a can. It is so tragic

A Gassy Obese Boy's Saga

Sums are not set as a test on Erasmus

Able was I ere I saw Elba (apparently attributed to Napoleon)

Amante Darmanin

LONGEST PALINDROME -

SAIPPUAKIVIKAUPPIAS - Saponite trader

SAIPPUAKUPPINIPPUKAUPPIAS - Finnish for "soap cup trader" but this is felt to be contrived.

Gerry Jones

 Visit The Wordplay Website for Anagrams, Palindromes, Spoonerisms, Oxymorons, Tongue Twisters, Pangrams, Rebus Puzzles, Malapropisms, Mnemonics, Etymology, and much more!

When I come across items of general interest, rather than not make use of them, I will put them on this page for future reference.

We recently asked if anyone new the general term for people who collected things.  The response was amazing and most people came up with the word "Packrat" - not a term I am familiar with in the U.K.  This would appear to mean people who collect anything and everything.

Having mentioned that I was not familiar with the term "Packrat", I received the following from Jean Coyle which I thought may be of interest to others:-

"Well, June since you have not heard the term, "packrat," I thought I'd explain what it means in American meanings. I went to my Webster's dictionary for an official definition and found that a pack rat (two words) is a rodent that has "well-developed cheek pouches and hoards food and miscellaneous items." The American term is one word - packrat. I am a packrat, and I can tell you what it's like.

1) A packrat is one who can never throw anything away - she might need it one day.

2) A packrat is one who has one or more storerooms (rented) where she can move her goodies back and forth - from home to storeroom or from storeroom back to home, depending upon which one she is currently trying to organize.

3) A packrat is someone to whom friends and family bring their cast-off clothes, furniture, books, etc., knowing the packrat will gladly take in all their junk.

4) A packrat is someone to whom friends and family come who need hard-to-find items - knowing the packrat probably has at least "one" on hand - if she can only find it.

5) A famous packrat in America is Delta Burke, who (according to her recent TV talk-show appearance) has 30 storerooms full of her "stuff" - soon to be 36, when she moves from New Orleans to Los Angeles.

6) A packrat is someone who must constantly buy new stuff 'cause she can't find the stuff that she knows she already has - but just can't find... (Like Delta Burke confesses.)

7) A packrat is someone who, no matter what size bigger house she moves into, still needs a bigger house.

8) A packrat has newspapers from 1945 or so, her report cards from 1940, her babies' hair locks (they're 36, 37, 38, 40 and 42 years old now) and all their certificates, report cards, games, etc.

June, I hope this helps explain the "American native packrat." As for me, I don't hoard food - in fact, I don't "hoard" anything, but I can't bring myself to turn down anything or throw anything away. This includes empty boxes (I might need one to wrap a gift in one day); empty cardboard rollers (I might need to wind something around it one day - like Christmas tree lights) and plastic bags from the super market (they come in so handy when needing a bag - and I have perhaps a hundred on hand.) I also can't throw away solo socks - I might find the missing sock one day. This goes also for earrings - I might find the missing earring one day.

And this new technology gives the packrat even more things to hang onto - that is, I can't throw away my old DOS disks - there might be documents on them I'll need one day. I can't throw away all the free CD's for Internet access that I receive in the mail - since I (or someone else) might need them one day. And on and on and on.

The native American packrat dreams of her male household finishing out the attic so she'll have more floor space to put her stuff. She dreams of more shelves on which to put her stuff. She dreams of storage units out back where she can put her stuff. And now with the new technology, she spends hours "saving" stuff on her computer - like June Jackson's HINTS AND THINGS - she might need them some day."

SOUND FAMILIAR?

Antiquarian or Compiler           Clarkson Reed

Curator                                   Chris Santee

Accumulator                            "Hatara"

Thank you Dave Halford

More useful mnemonics and spelling aids, words and their meanings, unusual plurals,

There are many other pages covering different aspects of words and language, check out the Library Index.

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