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September 07, 2007
“You Are Lucky We Don’t Kill You:” Poetry Friday
Thirty days hath September,
April, June and November;
February has twenty eight alone,
All the rest have thirty-one,
Except in Leap Year, that's the time,
When February’s Days are twenty-nine
This isn’t really a poem; it’s a mnemonic. While “mnemonic” is an undeniably excellent word (I mean, how many words start with “mn”?), I dislike mnemonics themselves. I have a difficult time with the concept of memorizing something in order to memorize something else. It seems like wasted effort, especially when so many of the things mnemonics were created to help one memorize aren’t particularly worth memorizing. I have a few issues with the idea of memorizing the number of days in each month, the biggest one being that we already have a handy mnemonic for this advanced concept; it’s called “a calendar.” You’ll find one pretty much everywhere you go. Aside from that, who even cares how many days are in a month? The only time I ever hear people mulling this over is when they’re arguing over the words of the above poem.
The mnemonic presented here, though:
That’s completely different.
After thirty-some years of resisting the pressure to learn “Thirty Days Hath September,” I’ve managed to memorize “329 Days Has Boovember” in a week, mostly because of the way I can’t stop watching the video. It’s just another example of my priorities sitting solidly in the right place.
[Semicolon's on the roundup today. Thanks, Sherry!]
Posted by adrienne at September 7, 2007 02:46 PM
Comments
Ken just bought for home the book Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge by Rod Evans. I think some of the mnemonics the book suggest are harder than what you might want to memorize to begin with. I does have some interesting lists however.
Posted by: Pat at September 7, 2007 04:14 PM
I loooove this video, too! I played it several times after finding it through 7-Imps. But I never thought to use it for Poetry Friday. You "Outside the Box" thinker, you!
Posted by: Sara at September 7, 2007 04:24 PM
I was never able to keep that one straight as a child. Getting it all buggered up, I'd end up saying "30 days has October, April, May and December" or something to that erroneous effect. The mnemonics were fruitless, but finally someone showed me the knuckle trick: Put both your closed fists together and count the bumps of your knuckles as 31 days, the valleys as 30 (ignore the thumbs), then say the months in order.
Posted by: John Mutford at September 7, 2007 05:07 PM
My grandmother taught me this one:
30 days has Montanna
April, June, and no wonder
All the rest have peanut butter
Except for my neighbor, who has a little red tricycle.
Posted by: chuck at September 9, 2007 04:53 PM
My grandma taught me:
Beans Beans, the magical fruit
The more you eat, the more you toot
The more you toot, the better you feel
So let's eat beans in every meal!
Sure its not a mnemonic, but how many grandmas teach you poems that encourage tooting?
I love my grandma!
Posted by: Cathy at September 9, 2007 10:41 PM
I'm pretty sure that Cathy's and mine are not mnemonics, just General Silliness. I feel sorry for people whose grandmas don't or didn't appreciate General Silliness. Mine specializes in it, and it's my favorite thing about her.
Posted by: chuck at September 11, 2007 10:36 AM
I was wondering if that was a product of Grandma Shannon. It sounds like her.
My grandmother used to let me play with her makeup and costume jewelry. I loved that.
Posted by: adrienne at September 11, 2007 10:41 PM
I think she did just make it up one time and I remembered it because I though it was hillarious.
Posted by: chuck at September 12, 2007 08:58 AM
My grandma definitely appreciates silliness... boy can I tell you some stories about my grandfather's wake. Yup, even then there was silliness. Just imagine if you can, the complete silence after someone (I will protect their anonymity, although they have never been on the Internet) breaks wind in the middle of the room... that is until someone else (my sister) starts giggling uncontrollably. Also imagine someone (the same anonymous person) tell you about how she and her husband went to a bar that had table dancers and that the one in front of them was only wearing flowers.
Did I mention that I love my family? What crazy times those 1940's were.
Posted by: Cathy at September 12, 2007 10:23 PM