pegword

Find out about the pegword mnemonic

Here are pegwords I've thought up in the Italian language.

As with the original example, let's try it out with our cranial nerves.

In italiano, sono i nervi cranici:

1. olfattorio
2. ottico
3. oculumotore
4. trocleare
5. trigemino
6. abducente
7. faciale
8. cocleare
9. glossofaríngeo
10. vago
11. accessorio
12. ipoglosso

Each mnemonic image contains the pegword image plus something to denote the cranial nerve. In some cases, that can be very simple. But if the name of the nerve is less obvious, there will be items that refer to the function of the nerve and ones that provide keywords to the name. Such keywords are written in bold.

1 è la luna e il nervo cranico 1 è olfattivo - la luna con un grande naso:

1 is the moon and cranial nerve 1 is olfactory — the moon with a big nose:

2 è un bue e il nervo cranico 2 è ottico - il bue usa una lente d'ingrandimento per leggere il giornale:

2 is an ox and cranial nerve 2 is optic — the ox uses a magnifying glass to read the newspaper:

3 è un fratè e il nervo cranico 3 è oculomotore - grandi occhiali sul motociclista che viene fermato bruscamente dai poteri del fratè:

3 is a friar and cranial nerve 3 is oculomotor — big goggles on the motorcyclist who is abruptly halted by the powers of the friar:

4 è una stella e il nervo cranico 4 è trocleare - la punta acuminata della stella penetra l'occhio ma il tricolore asciuga il sangue:

4 is a star and cranial nerve 4 is trochlear — the sharp point of the star pierces the eye but the tricolore wipes up the blood:

5 è lingue e il nervo cranico 5 è trigemino - relativo alla mascella, quindi abbiamo due lingue nella mascella e tre gemme che cadono sulla lingua distesa:

5 is tongues and cranial nerve 5 is trigeminal — relating to the jaw, so we have two tongues in the jaw and three gems falling onto the outstretched tongue:

6 è rosai e il nervo cranico 6 è abducente - anche in relazione con l'occhio, quindi abbiamo rose che galleggiano sul succo di albicocca e qualcuno che raggiunge per far cadere un occhio nel bicchiere:

6 is rosebushes and cranial nerve 6 is abducens — also relating to the eye, so we have roses floating on the apricot juice and someone reaching to drop an eye in the glass:

7 è scalette e il nervo cranico 7 è facciale - una scala che corre fino alla bocca su una faccina sorridente:

7 is ladders and cranial nerve 7 is facial — a ladder running up to the mouth on a smiley face:

8 è biscotti e il nervo cranico è uditivo - un cappello da cuoco tra due orecchie mentre presenta i suoi biscotti:

8 is biscuits and cranial nerve is auditory — a cook's hat between two ears as he presents his biscuits:

9 è nave e il nervo cranico 9 è glossofaringeo - relativo alla gola, quindi ecco un uomo che sta per ingoiare la nave con il rosmarino:

9 is a ship and cranial nerve 9 is glossopharyngeal — relating to the throat, so here is a man about to swallow the ship with rosemary:

10 è radici e il nervo cranico 10 è il vago - relativo al cuore, quindi una forma del cuore vaga rispecchiata dalla forma fatta dai due radici:

10 is radishes and cranial nerve 10 is vagus — relating to the heart, so a vague heart shape mirrored by the shape made by the two radishes:

11 è spinaci e il nervo cranico 11 è accessorio - relativo al movimento della testa, quindi abbiamo una donna che scuote la testa mentre mette gli spinaci nella sua borsa (un accessorio):

11 is spinach and cranial nerve 11 is accessory — relating to head movement, so we have a woman shaking her head as she puts spinach in her bag:

12 è noci e il nervo cranico 12 è ipoglosso - relativo alla lingua, quindi un ipodermico che inietta la lingua mentre cerca di ingoiare le noci nei loro gusci:

12 is walnuts and cranial nerve 12 is hypoglossal — relating to the tongue, so a hypodermic injecting the tongue as it tries to swallow walnuts in their shells:

Find out about the pegword mnemonic

Here are pegwords I've thought up in the French language.

As with the original example, let's try it out with our cranial nerves.

En francais, les nerfs crâniens son:

1. olfactif
2. optique
3. oculomotor
4. trochlear
5. trijumeau
6. abducens
7. facial
8. auditive
9. glosso
10. vague ou pneumogastrique
11. accessoire
12. hypoglosse

Each mnemonic image contains the pegword image plus something to denote the cranial nerve. In some cases, that can be very simple. But if the name of the nerve is less obvious, there will be items that refer to the function of the nerve and ones that provide keywords to the name. Such keywords are written in bold.

1 est la lune et nerf crânien 1 est olfactif — imaginez la lune avec un gros nez:

1 is the moon and cranial nerve 1 is olfactory — imagine the moon with a large nose:

2 est les yeux et nerf crânien 2 est optique — soulignons les yeux avec une loupe:

2 is eyes and cranial nerve 2 is optic — let's highlight the eyes with a magnifying glass:

3  est une croix et nerf crânien 3 est oculomotor — imaginez un motard portant de grandes lunettes de protection qui s'écrase dans une ambulance avec une grosse croix sur le côté:

3 is a cross and cranial nerve 3 is oculomotor — imagine a motorcyclist wearing big goggles who crashes into an ambulance with a giant cross on the side:

4 es un arbre et nerf crânien 4 est trochlear — le gros oeil attrapé dans l'arbre signale que ce nerf est aussi relié aux yeux et que le troquile nous indique le nom:

4 is a tree and cranial nerve 4 is trochlear — the large eye caught in the tree signals that this nerve is also related to eyes and the hummingbird cues us to the name:

Si "troquile" ne vous convient pas, vous pouvez utiliser le mot-clé "troc / truck":

If "troquile" doesn't work for you, you could use the keyword truck:

5 est une sainte et nerf crânien 5 est trijumeau — ce nerf se rapporte à la mâchoire, et notre mot clé est trois jumeaux:

5 is a saint and cranial nerve 5 is trigeminal —the nerve relates to the jaw, and our keyword is triplets:

6 est un vis et nerf crânien 6 est abducens — imaginez qu’une grosse vis a enlevé un œil et perce maintenant un abricot pour en faire du jus d’abricot dans lequel l’œil est sur le point de tomber ('jus' est là pour souligner le 'duce' en abducens):

6 is a screw and cranial nerve 6 is adbucens — this relates to eyes again, so imagine a large screw has removed an eye and now pierces an apricot to make apricot juice, into which the eye is about to be dropped:

7 es une tête et nerf crânien 7 est facial — imaginez un visage souriant sur notre tête rétrécie:

7 is a head and cranial nerve is facial — imagine a smiling face on our shrunken head:

8  est magique et nerf crânien 8 es auditive — la boule de cristal magique a des oreilles:

8 is magic and cranial nerve is auditory — the magic crystal ball has ears:

9 est un œuf et nerf crânien 9 es glosso — ce nerf est relié à la gorge, alors imaginez un garçon allongé sur un glacier, un œuf lui glissant dans la gorge:

9 is an egg and cranial nerve 9 is glossopharyngeal — this nerve relates to the throat, so imagine a boy lying back on a glacier, an egg sliding down his throat:

10 est une saucisse et nerf crânien 10 est vague ou pneumogastrique — ce nerf concerne le cœur, alors imaginez un cœur flottant sur la mer avec la saucisse à travers le pneu et une grosse vague venant les submerger.

10 is a sausage and cranial nerve 10 is vagus —this nerve concerns the heart, so imagine a heart floating on the sea with the sausage stuck through the tyre and a giant wave coming to drown them:

11 est un éponge et nerf crânien 11 est accessoire — ce nerf est lié au mouvement de la tête; nous avons donc une femme qui secoue la tête en essuyant son sac (accessoire) avec une éponge:

11 is a sponge and cranial nerve 11 is accessory — this nerve relates to head movement; so we have a woman shaking her head while wiping her bag with a sponge:

12 est une blouse et nerf crânien 12 est hypoglosse, qui se rapporte à la langue, voici donc une blouse à petites langues et hypodermique:

12 is a blouse and cranial nerve 12 is hypoglossal, which relates to the tonge, so here is a blouse patterned with little tongues and hypodermics:

Find out about the pegword mnemonic

Here are pegwords I've thought up in the Spanish language.

As with the original example, let's try it out with our cranial nerves.

En español, los nervios craneales son:

1. olfatorio
2. óptico
3. motor ocular comun
4. troclear
5. trigémino
6. abducens
7. facial
8. auditivo
9. glosofaríngeo
10. neumogástrico
11. accesorio
12. hipogloso

Each mnemonic image contains the pegword image plus something to denote the cranial nerve. In some cases, that can be very simple. But if the name of the nerve is less obvious, there will be items that refer to the function of the nerve and ones that provide keywords to the name. Such keywords are written in bold.

1 es el vino y nervio craneal 1 es olfatorio — una botella de vino que se vierte en un orificio nasal:

1 is wine and cranial nerve 1 is olfactory — a bottle of wine is pushed into a nostril:

2 es un oso y nervio craneal 2 es óptico — el oso usa una lupa para leer el periódico:

2 is a bear and cranial nerve 2 is optic — the bear uses a magnifying glass to read the newspaper:

3  es un tren y nervio craneal 3 es motor ocular comun — grandes gafas de protección en el motociclista que salta el tren:

3 is a train and cranial nerve 3 is oculomotor — big goggles on the motorcyclist who is jumping the train:

4 es un cuadro y nervio craneal 4 es troclear — imagina trocear el cuadro del ojo:

4 is a picture and cranial nerve 4 is trochlear — imagine cutting the picture of an eye:

5 es un banco y nervio craneal 5 es trigémino — relacionado con la mandíbula, por lo que tres gemas caen de una mandíbula en el banco:

5 is a bench and cranial nerve 5 is trigeminal — relating to the jaw, so three gems fall from a jaw onto the bench:

6 es el maíz y nervio craneal 6 es abducens — también en relación con el ojo, por lo que un ojo cae sobre el maíz tirado en el adoquín:

6 is corn and cranial nerve 6 is abducens — also relating to the eye, so an eye falling on the corn lying on the paving stones:

7 es un diente y nervio craneal 7 es facial — nuestro diente feliz rebotando de una boca en una cara sonriente:

7 is a tooth and cranial nerve 7 is facial — our happy tooth bouncing from the mouth on a smiley face:

8  es un ojo y nervio craneal 8 es auditivo — un ojo entre dos orejas:

8 is an eye and cranial nerve is auditory — an eye between two ears:

9 es un nave y nervio craneal 9 es glosofaríngeo — se relaciona con la garganta, por lo que aquí un hombre está a punto de tragar la nave espacial, mientras que un faraón escribe una glosa:

9 is a ship and cranial nerve 9 is glossopharyngeal — relating to the throat, so here is a man about to swallow the spaceship, while a pharaoh writes a commentary, a gloss:

10 es un pez y nervio craneal 10 es neumogástrico — conectado al corazón, así que un pez saltando a traves de un neumático para alcanzar un corazón:

10 is a fish and cranial nerve 10 is vagus — connected to the heart, so fish jumping through a tyre to reach a heart:

11 es un guante y nervio craneal 11 es accesorio — se relaciona con la cabeza, entonces un guante y una cabeza encogida en una bolsa (un accesorio):

11 is a glove and cranial nerve 11 is accessory — relating to the head, so a glove and a shrunken head in a bag:

12 es un coche y nervio craneal 12 es hipogloso — en relación con la lengua, por lo que un hipodérmico adormece la lengua cuando un automóvil pasa sobre ella:

12 is a car and cranial nerve 12 is hypoglossal — relating to the tongue, so a hypodermic injecting the tongue as a car drives onto it:

Find out about the pegword mnemonic

To celebrate Māori Language Week here in Aotearoa (New Zealand), I've put together a pegword set in te reo:

1. tahi — ahi
2. rua — ua
3. toru — tūru
4. whā — taniwha
5. rima — rama
6. ono — hono
7. whitu — whatu
8. waru — karu
9. iwa — taraiwa
10. tekau — rākau

The taniwha is taken from an image posted by Archives New Zealand. www.archway.archives.govt.nz/ViewFullItem.do?code=18810047

If you have a numbered list to memorize, the best mnemonic strategy is the pegword mnemonic. This mnemonic uses numbers which have been transformed into visual images. Here's the standard 1-10 set.

I add two more:

To apply the strategy to a list, you visualize these images with the items to be remembered. So, for example, you might be a medical student wanting to memorize the 12 cranial nerves:

1. olfactory
2. optic
3. oculomotor
4. trochlear
5. trigeminal
6. abducens
7. facial
8. auditory
9. glossopharyngeal
10. vagus
11. accessory
12. hypoglossal

They're traditionally memorized using the first-letter mnemonic:

On Old Olympia’s Towering Top A Finn And German Vault And Hop.

I discuss what's wrong with this approach in my book Mnemonics for Study (from which the following example also comes).

Let's see how we can combine the keyword and pegword mnemonics to help remember not only the order, but also what each nerve relates to, and the names themselves:

1. a nose diving into a bun
   
2. eyes on a shoe
   
3. an eye on a motorbike running over a tree
   
4. a truck running into a door with eyes (the trochlear nerve also relates to the eyes)
   
5. a jaw spitting three gems at a hive (the trigeminal nerve is attached to the jaw)
   

and so on.

The pegword method does require you to learn the pegs very well — you don't want to need to think at all about what image corresponds to each number. This is why the words are short and well-known, and rhyme.

If you're not very good at visualizing, you can still use the pegword method — simply use the words rather than images. In that case, you're not constrained by needing to have concrete words that are easy to visualize. Some people have had good results with an abstract set. For example, you could try:

one is fun

two is true

three is free

four is more

five is alive

six is for kicks

seven is heaven (let's face it, this is more abstract than concrete!)

eight is late

nine is fine

ten is when

eleven is even

twelve is delve

So, with our cranial nerves, we could say:

1. to smell is fun
2. eyes are true
3. free the motors
4. more trucks!
5. gems are alive
6. he abducts for kicks
7. a facial is heaven
8. I hear he's late
9. a glossy pharaoh is fine
10. when is vague
11. with an accessory even!
12. delve for the hypodermic

You can make up your own pegs. The golden rule is simply that you want them to be deeply and easily memorable. So go with whatever works for you.

To celebrate Māori Language Week here in Aotearoa (New Zealand), I've worked out a set in Māori.

In token of the version of Mnemonics for Study that comes with a Spanish glossary, I have also worked out a Spanish set.

The method of loci or place method

This is the classic mnemonic strategy, dating back to the ancient Greeks, and is (as evident from its continued use over 2500 years) an extremely effective strategy for remembering lists.

First of all, you choose a place you know very very well. Perhaps a familiar route, your house, or a particular room in it. Any place that you know well enough to easily call to mind various ‘landmarks’ (different fixed objects in a room, for example). You must train yourself to go around your landmarks in a particular order. With a route of course, that is easy.

Thus, to remember a shopping list, you simply imagine each item in turn at these landmarks. A loaf of bread sticking out of the letterbox; a giant apple in place of the door; the hall full of beans; a giant banana in the bath, etc.

Because the place method uses cues that are already well-known to you, it is probably the easiest of the imagery mnemonics to master.

Disadvantages

• difficult to recall a particular item without going through the list in order until you reach the item you want.
• most effective as a relatively short-term strategy (By using the landmarks again and again, you can only readily recall the last list. Earlier lists are much less easily recalled.)
• difficult to use if the information is presented too fast

The pegword mnemonic

uses numbers instead of places. These numbers are transformed into visual images by means of the following simple rhyme:

one is a bun
two is a shoe
three is a tree
four is a door
five is a hive
six is sticks
seven is heaven
eight is a gate
nine is a line
ten is a hen

The rhyme must be learned by rote until it is over-learned. Accordingly, there is a higher ‘cost’ to the pegword method than to the place method, where cues already over-learned are used.

Disadvantages

• most effective as a relatively short-term strategy (By using the landmarks again and again, you can only readily recall the last list. Earlier lists are much less easily recalled.)
• difficult to use if the information is presented to you too fast
• difficult to use effectively without extensive training.

Find out more about the pegword mnemonic

The link method

like the others, uses visual images to link items together. However, instead of linking items to a well-learned structure, items are linked to each other. For example, to remember our shopping list of bread, apples, beans, bananas, you would form an image of the bread interacting with apples in some way, then another image of apples and beans, then another image bringing beans and bananas together.

The story method

is the verbal equivalent of the link method. Items are chained together by linking them in a story. For example, A VEGETABLE can be a useful INSTRUMENT for a COLLEGE student. A carrot can be a NAIL for your FENCE or BASIN. But a MERCHANT of the QUEEN would SCALE that fence and feed the carrot to a GOAT.

Disadvantages of Link and Story Methods

• difficult to recall a particular item without going through the list in order until you reach the item you want.
• difficult to use if the information is presented too fast.
• difficult to use effectively without extensive training.