"mnemonic possession"

Joel S. Berson Berson at ATT.NET
Sat Oct 26 17:30:38 UTC 2013


At 10/25/2013 09:42 PM, Neal Whitman wrote:
>Well, I learned their names. Chemical properties? Atomic numbers?
>That came in chemistry class, and is mostly forgotten now.

Doesn't the song go in atno order?  Unless, like Gerald Ford, one
can't count and sing at the same time.

Joel

(Yes I know, one could tally with a pencil instead.)


>Neal
>
>On Oct 25, 2013, at 8:08 PM, "David A. Daniel" <dad at POKERWIZ.COM> wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       "David A. Daniel" <dad at POKERWIZ.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: "mnemonic possession"
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > If you really and truly learned the elements from Tom Lehrer's
> song then you
> > are my hero, and perhaps a candidate for apotheosis, another being Tom. I
> > couldn't mnemonic (ha! verbified!) past hydrogen, which is sad but true. I
> > learned my life lessons from "So Long Mom, I'm Off to Drop the Bomb,"
> > "Vatican Rag," "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park," "Be Prepared" and so many
> > others.
> > DAD
> >
> >
> >
> > Poster:       Neal Whitman <nwhitman at AMERITECH.NET>
> > Subject:      Re: "mnemonic possession" (UNCLASSIFIED)
> >
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > ---
> >
> > It's how I learned them, except of course for those that hadn't been
> > discovered.
> >
> > Neal
> >
> >> Poster:       Arnold Zwicky <zwicky at STANFORD.EDU>
> >> Subject:      Re: "mnemonic possession" (UNCLASSIFIED)
> >>
> >
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > ---
> >>
> >> On Oct 25, 2013, at 7:49 AM, "Mullins, Bill CIV (US)"
> > <william.d.mullins18.civ at MAIL.MIL> wrote:
> >>
> >>> So, what other things have you memorized from a song?  I'm aware of (but
> >>> haven't learned):
> >>> Lehrer's song about the elements
> >>> Animaniacs songs of state capitals and countries
> >>
> >> i can't believe that anyone has ever learned the names of the elements
> > from Tom Lehrer's song.  it's a tour de force, but not really usable as a
> > mnemonic,
> >>
> >> arnold
> >>
> >> ------------------------------------------------------------
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> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
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