How to cheat at quiz nights – 10 best old school hacks
Those that know me will confirm that I have a poor memory; they call me Dory. I suspect I am more like a hoarder, the memories are there just hidden under piles of other stuff that I enjoy more. I have always used memory aids like long sticks to poke and prod the information out. To pass my history exams I used to sing the significant dates in limerick form. I still hum 30 days hath September, April, June and November…..when I need to know how many days are left in the month. Violet, Indigo, Blueooo and Green, Yellow Orange and Red in a T.V sing song voice for the rainbow. I guess remembering it is redundant now, given that facts can be retrieved from phones before I can recall the appropriate mnemonic. I thought it would be fun to leave my favourites here, in case you ever attend a quiz night. Some are well known, I made the rest up. I really does work, I typed them out quickly, too many years later.
1.PLANETS when I was a kid Pluto still counted.
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto
My Very Easy Method: Just Set Up Nine Planets. (I adjusted it to Pluto ran off)
2. CHAMPAGNE BOTTLES
- Bottle
- Magnum (2 bottles) 1.5 litres
- Jereboam (4 bottles) 3 litres.
- Rehoboam (6 bottles) 4.5 litres.
- Methuselah (8 bottles) 6 litres.
- Salmanazar (12 bottles) 9 litres.
- Balthazar(16 bottles) 12 litres.
- Nabuchadnezzar (20 bottles) 15 litres.
After a bottle of champagne, My Jolly Roommate Makes Stunning Burping Noises.
3. THE WIVES OF HENRY VIII
Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, Catherine Parr
All Boys Should Come Home Please
and of course you need to know their fates.
Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced, Beheaded, Survived.
4. ROMAN NUMERALS
I 1 V 5 X 10 L 50 C 100 D 500 M 1,000
I Value Xylophones Lets Come Dance More
5. LONGEST RIVERS – when I made this up it was true! it changes.
Nile, Amazon, Yangtze, Mississippi, Yenisei, Yellow, Ob, Parana, Congo, Amur
Never Attempt Yellow Mangos Yucky Yellow Orbes Pick Crispy Apples
6.MUSICAL NOTES
E,G,B,D,F.
Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge.
7. THE FIRST EIGHT U.S PRESIDENTS
George Washington, John Quincy Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren
Will A Jolly Man Make A Jolly Visitor?
8.THE ROYAL HOUSES OF ENGLAND AND GREAT BRITAIN (oldest first)
Norman, Plantagenet, Lancaster, York, Tudor, Stuart, Hanover, Windsor
Nose Picking Lets You Taste Salty Horrible Walnuts
9.THE LAST SIX GEOLOGICAL TIME PERIODS
- Quaternary 1.8mya – today – man and mammoths
- Neogene 24 – 1.8mya – sheep dogs birds.
- Paleogene 65 – 24mya – horses cats and pigs.
- Cretaceous 146 – 65mya – flowering plants and snakes.
- Jurassic 208 – 146mya – dinosurs fish birds
- Triassic 245 – 208mya – mamals frogs turtles
Quite Nice Pastries Custard, Jam, Treacle
10. MONARCHS OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND
| 1702-1714 | Anne | House of Stuart |
| 1714-1727 | George I | House of Hanover |
| 1727-1760 | George II | House of Hanover |
| 1760-1820 | George III (Elector, 1760-1815, and King,1815-20, of Hanover) | House of Hanover |
| 1820-1830 | George IV | House of Hanover |
| 1830-1837 | William IV (King of Hanover 1830-7) | House of Hanover |
| 1837-1901 | Victoria (Empress of India 1876-1901) | House of Hanover |
| 1901-1910 | Edward VII | House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha |
| 1910-1936 | George V | House of Windsor |
| 1936 | Edward VIII | House of Windsor |
| 1936-1952 | George VI | House of Windsor |
| 1952- | Elizabeth II |
I made this rhyme for a history exam!!
The Kings and Queens have a race.
Elizabeth came second George came 6th Edward the 8th was late. George and Edward raced again 5th and 7th their fate. Victoria was not amused. William was forth he tied with George who also came 3rd 2nd and 1st. Ann shouted ready steady go in 1702.
where I got the chart and a more official way of remembering
When you were young I used to make up stupid rhymes or say, sounds like…,.to make you laugh and remember. My son passed on this particular piece of information to a friend, who actually wrote the sounds like word as the answer in a test they were studying for. Oh dear, I laughed, not sure his mum did!!
The answer was Nepal I said sounds like nipple.
PS if you ever have children of your own do not make the mistake I did with the alphabet. I used to sing the a-b-c-d-e-f-g song, when you get to l-m-n-o-p you have to sing more quickly to fit the rhythm. Both you kids thought npee was a letter. Please articulate to your young ones or try this old school way:
A was an apple pie,
B bit it,
C cut it,
D dealt it,
E eat it,
F fought for it,
G got it,
H had it,
I inspected it,
J jumped for it,
K kept it,
L longed for it,
M mourned for it,
N nodded at it,
O opened it,
P peeped in it,
Q quartered it,
R ran for it,
S stole it,
T took it,
U upset it,
V viewed it,
W wanted it,
X, Y and Z all wished for and
had a piece in hand
Crowded Mind 