I never learned the "30 days has September..." mnemonic as a kid. In my high school German class, we were taught it freshman year as something cool we could rattle off and feel like we spoke German. Thus, the only way I can remember if a month has 30 or 31 days (like say, when it's two in the morning and I'm mapping out my homework to-do list for the week), is to say it in German to myself. Like Dwight Schrute. I will now do it for you, and please German grammaticians (and I know there's a lot of you), don't judge the spelling.
Dreissig tage hat September, April, Juni und November. Alle die noch ubrig blieben haben ein un dreissig ausser Februar.
I probably have to do this, on average, like three or four times a month.Pretty useful! Not nearly as useful as knowing Spanish, for instance, but what can you do?
You never learned the knuckle trick? Make a fist with one hand, then touch each of the knuckles and between-knuckle webbings on your fist, starting at the index knuckle and moving towards the pinkie. As you do this, start with January and name each successive month as you make each touch on your fist. The knuckles themselves are the 31 day months, and the webbings are the fewer-than-31 day months.
ReplyDeleteWhen you get to the pinkie knuckle (July), start over on your other fist and count from August to December.
Also: my dad's dad had a convenient saying that got passed down to me: "30 days has September, April, June, and no wonder. All the rest have peanut butter, except for Grandma, who rides a bicycle."
Sam... I do that too. Thanks, Frau Stamp.
ReplyDeleteNice work, Slonaker! You freaked me out for a solid five or ten seconds.
ReplyDeleteBlogadier General and I have the same dad's dad, so I also learned the "all the rest have peanut butter" gag. Unfortunately, I never learned the original saying, so I've always struggled to remember how it goes. I still can't tell you for sure. I wish I'd been taught that knuckle trick, too.
ReplyDeleteAlso: the way I was taught it, the parody uses the word "Septober" instead of "September." And no matter what, the damned thing is brilliant. I giggle to myself whenever I recite it, even now.