Wednesday, May 09, 2007

my very efficient sentences

I have always enjoyed Astronomy, probably more than any other field in the sciences. As a result I never really needed a mnemonic to remember the planets. I was enough of a geek that I cared about the planets enough to memorize them without study tricks. Therefore, even though I knew there was a sentence that people used to remember the planets, I didn't know what the sentence was.

Someone at work recently pointed out to me that the sentence no longer works. Apparently, the standard planet mnemonic sentence was, "My Very Efficient Mother Just Sent Us Nine Pizzas," with the first letter of each word representing the next planet. Now that Pluto is not considered a planet, the sentence becomes quite cryptic and perhaps unusable. So, I am trying my hand at a new mnemonic that could help the kids of the future remember the planets. That is, until we find out that Neptune doesn't count as a planet any more either.
  • Master's Vile Enemies May Judo Several Unhappy Ninjas.
  • Maybe Vinegar Elevates My Judgment Somewhat Under Nice.
  • Men Vehemently Eat Much Junk Saving Usually Nothing.
  • Many Vampires Even Mull Joyriding Silently Until Night.
  • Mark Veritably Enjoys Midnights Just Sketching Unfinished Notes.
  • Mavens' Valuable Elegance Might Just Stop Unfounded Nastiness.
I didn't pull out the thesaurus until the fifth sentence. My sentences may not be perfect, but at least they are not about receiving nine pizzas.

2 comments:

T said...

How about "My Very Efficient Mother Just Sent Us Newsweek!"

Achtung BB said...

Sometimes I wonder if you have too much time on your hands.