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  "path": "/2026/06/mnemonic-devices-and-pangrams-that.html",
  "publishedAt": "2026-06-15T01:08:51.000Z",
  "site": "https://blog.computationalcomplexity.org",
  "textContent": "A _mnemonic device_ is a sentence where the first letters of the words are helpful to remember something. My favorite one is\n\n\n\n\n _My Very Educated Mother Just Said Uh, No Pluto_\n\nYou probably know what it's for. If not you can type it into Google and you will find:\n\nMercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune\n\nand of course NOT Pluto anymore.\n\nConsider\n\n_Kids Prefer Cheese Over Fried Green Tomatoes_\n\nAgain, if you just google that sentence you will find that it is a mnemonic for biological taxonomy:\n\nKingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species\n\nI came across the mnemonic device\n\n_Do Men Ever Visit Brighton Beach?_\n\nThe place I read this did not say what it was a mnemonic device for. So I typed it into Google and found out:\n\n_Yes, they do! If you are refereeing to the Metropolitan museum of Art (The Met) staff, researchers or groups from New York, they frequently travel to the seaside city of Brighton, England, or its coastal namesake Brighton Beach, NY, for educational trips, research, and cultural exchange._\n\nWhat happened? Most mnemonic devices are not sentences you would say in normal conversation. This one is! So what to do? I Googled\n\n_What is ``Do Men Ever Visit Brighton Beach' a mnemonic device for?_\n\nIt is British nobility:\n\nDuke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount, Baron, Baronet.\n\n1) Are there other mnemonic that are sentences one might actually say? I asked Google and the Google AI overviews gave me the following:\n\n_Sam's Horse Must Eat Oats_. This is a mnemonic for the great lakes.\n\n _A big secret conceal her past_. This is a mnemonic for the last names of King Henry the 8th's wives. Not quite last names- Catherine of Aragon is regarded as having Aragon for a last name. Bonus: By looking all this up I found out that three of the 6 wives has first names that sounded the same: Catherine of Aragon, Catherine Howard, and Katherine Parr. So, he had a type. He had 2 of his 6 wives killed, so 1/3 and he had 1 of the 3 C/K atherine's killed, also 1/3.\n\n _\n_\n\n_Big gorillas eat hotdogs, not cold pizza._ Really? I thought they liked cold pizza. I am more surprised that Google thinks someone might say this sentence in normal conversation, and not just when they are trying to remember the countries of Central America: Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rico, Panama.\n\n2) I would normally see if Chatty or Claude does better, but at this point I'm beating a dead horse (maybe Sam's).\n\n3) My favorite pangram (sentences with every letter) that one might actually say is (or was- you'll see why)\n\n _Watch Jeopardy!---Alex Trebek's fun TV quiz game_\n\nMaybe put `show' at the end to make it more something someone might say- or would have said before Alex Trebek passed away.\n\nGoogle AI overview game me those below. Are they sentences people would say? I leave that as an exercise for the reader\n\n _Jim quickly realized that those beautiful gowns are expensive_\n\n\n\n\n _The quick onyx goblin jumps over the lazy dwarf._\n\n(I uttered that sentence just the other day!)\n\n\n\n\n_Just keep examining every low bid quoted for zinc etchings._\n\n(This was a reasonable sentence until the word etchings.)\n\n\n\n\n_Bored? Craving a pub quiz fix? Why, just come to the Royal Oak!_\n\n(I prefer the Alex Trebek pangram better.)\n\n4) Google AI overview seems to not quite know what _a sentence one might actually say._\n\nBy gasarch",
  "title": "mnemonic devices and pangrams  that could be real sentences"
}