Remembering medical terms ampulla/amphoric

Struggling Student's Memory Guide helps students use association and memory techniques to recall educational information quickly by eliminating as much rote memorization as we can.

blue emboldened words are common or college terms that can be used for association purposes because they use the same word part as a medical term.

reddish brown emboldened words are medical terms that should be looked up in a medical dictionary for their figurative meanings.

Medical terms and memory story from High Speed Memory Techniques for Medical Terminology.

amphoric from Gr. amphora, a jar with two handles, from amphi-, both sides + -phor-, to carry, medically means "a sound from the lungs that sounds like someone blowing into an amphora".

ampulla from L. ampulla, a narrow necked globular bottle with a round bottom and two handles for carrying wine, perfume, or ointments, from the diminutive of amphora, a jar with two handles, means "a dilated section of a tube or vessel that resembles an ampule". [ampule, Med. a small sealed bottle containing drugs, ampullula, lit. a diminutive ampulla]

Memory Story: You're helping with a dive in the Mediterranean Sea after finding a sunken ancient Greek trading vessel loaded with ampullae and amphorae that held olive oil and perfumes. The diver's air hose has formed an ampulla and he is yelling for you to pull him up. "I am pulling! " (ampulla) you yell as another ampulla begins to form in the air hose in your hands.

Remembering the Bill of Rights' Tenth Amendment

The goal of Struggling Student's Memory Guide is to develop ways to use association and mnemonic memory techniques, instead of rote memorization, to remember educational information we can use for a lifetime.

The Bill of Rights' Tenth Amendment is written:
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively or to the people.

Without using rote memorization I've tried numerous ways to remember this amendment verbatim because I like to ponder verbage like the Tenth Amendment just as some people like to memorize scripture so it can guide their life and thoughts. However I have not created a memory story that will allow me to do this verbatim. Years ago though I abridged this amendment to contain most of the words I wanted to remember into an acronym and memory story. So until someone comes up with something better here's the memory story I use.

In this memory story we're going to substitute "den" for "ten" and for those who know the link/peg/phonetic system we'll use "toss".
Memory story: You're going in to your den (it's pretty big) and there's a very famous mythological lady reclined there on a couch who is eating some fruit next to a giant chest with US in gold across the top and the Constitution sealed across the lid's opening. "PaNDoRa ToSs A PeaR", (powers not delegated reserved to the states and people respectfully) you call to her as she throws you a golden piece of the fruit.
What's in the chest, you wonder? Powers given to the US by the Constitution (parchment) that has sealed the lid closed. Of course the chest wants to be open to suck more powers inside but the State representatives and all the people in your den won't let it happen because they would have to tear the Constitution (right along the tenth amendment) and give up there own powers to the United States government to do so.

Remembering medical and scientific word parts acet- and acetabul-

The goal of Struggling Student's Memory Guide is to develop ways to use association and mnemonic memory techniques, instead of rote memorization, to remember educational information we can use for a lifetime.

blue emboldened words are common or college terms that can be used for word association purposes.

reddish brown emboldened words are medical terms that should be looked up in a medical dictionary for their figurative meanings.

Word part and memory story from High Speed Memory Techniques for Medical Terminology.

acet-, aceto- from L. acetum, vinegar from acere, to be sour means "acetic acid". [acetic, lit. to be sour, fig. having to do with vinegar, acetabulum, acetate, Chem., acetyl, Chem., peracetate, Chem.] (see -ac-) (see acetabul-)

Memory story: Wearily you take a seat (acet-) in the vat of stomped grape juice that has turned into vinegar now that you've been demonstrating the age old technique in the same juice for about a week. This was not what you had in mind when you volunteered to be in the Renaissance Faire.

acetabul-, acetabulo- from L. acetabulum, a little saucer for vinegar, means "acetabulum, the cup shaped depression in the hipbone which the head of the femur fits into". [acetabular, lit. having to do with the acetabulum, acetabulectomy, lit. the cutting or excision of the acetabulum, acetabuloplasty, lit. the shaping or fashioning of the acetabulum] (There's no memory story for acetabulum because I felt the association between acetic and acetabulum would adequately fulfill our memory needs.)

Remembering medical/scientific word part -acerv-, acervul-

The goal of Struggling Student's Memory Guide is to develop ways to use association and mnemonic memory techniques, instead of rote memorization, to remember educational information we can use for a lifetime.

blue emboldened words are common or college terms that can be used for word association purposes.

reddish brown emboldened words are medical terms that should be looked up in a medical dictionary for their figurative meanings.

orange emboldened words are related terms from other fields of study that may be of interest to some people.

This entry taken from High Speed Memory Techniques for Medical Terminology.

-acerv-, acervul- from the L. acervus, heap, and its diminutive acervulus, means "growing in clusters, brain sand". [acervulus, lit. a little heap, acervuline, lit. like little heaps, coacervate, lit. like growing together in heaps or clusters, acervatim, lit. in heaps, fig. briefly]

Warning: This Memory Story is violent and repulsive to some people. [Using acervulus.] You're the cyclops Polyphemus from Homer's Ulysses and you are hungrily dreaming of a serving of Ulysses' (acervulus) and all of his men's brains scattered about in little heaps and clusters in the sand outside your cave after what Ulysses did to your eye.

Remember medical/scientific word part acar-

The goal of Struggling Student's Memory Guide is to develop ways for students to use associative memory techniques and mnemonics rather than rote memorization. This can speed up the memory process, make it more entertaining, and let students recall information for the rest of their lives.

This posting is from High Speed Memory Techniques for Medical Terminology.

blue emboldened words are common or college terms which can be used for associative purposes.

reddish brown emboldened words are medical terms which should be looked up in a medical dictionary for their figurative meanings.

acar-, acaro- from Gr. acarus, mite, means "mite or itch". [acariasis, lit. disease condition from mites, acarodermatitis, lit. skin mite inflammation, acaroid, lit. resembling a mite, otocariasis, lit. ear mite condition]

Memory story: [Let the buyer beware takes on a new meaning.] You test-drove a car (acar ) infested with itch mites. It was a great deal but now you're in quarantine with the worst case of scabies they've ever seen. Or. Movie star Dan Akaroyd (acaroid, not related) takes a part where he looks like a giant itch mite.

Remembering The Five Orders of Architecture

The goal of the Struggling Student's Memory Guide is to show some of my ideas and develop other ways for students to use associative memory techniques instead of using rote memorization. By using association and mnemonics I believe we can speed the memory process up and hopefully create educational memories that will last a lifetime.

Posting the word part -acanth- today reminded me of a memory story I created to recall the five orders of architecture about twenty years ago. The five orders are: Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, and Composite.

The mnemonic I came up with is not really an acronym but a composite of the beginnings of all the words. Tudor In Corn Compost and of course I tried to make it more visual and memorable by wrapping a memory story around it.

Memory story: You're watching a Tudor (Queen Elizabeth I or Henry VIII [both Tudors]) struggling to climb up an architectural column to get out of the huge stinking pile of corn compost they're in. Or, if you're not into Tudors. Your two door (Tudor) car is piled up on an architectural column of a Southern mansion after you lost control and went into a pile of corn compost. The damn revenuers were chasing down the fellows who created the corn compost pile for some reason.

Remembering the fourth amendment

The fourth amendment guards us against unreasonable search and seizures. For association purposes we're going to substitute "door" for "four" and use "rye" for those who know the LinkPegPhonetic memory technique in this memory story.

Memory story: You are Jean Valjean from Voltaire's Les Miserables and policemen break down your "door" and they ruffly search you and your house for the loaf of "rye" bread you've pilfered from the local bakery to keep you and your family from starving to death. Off to the galleys you go.

Memorizing word root -ac- and the Bill of Right's third amendment

Word root -ac- occurs in many Greek and Latin word parts: -acid-, -acerb-, -acri-, acet-, acetabul-, -acu-, -acanth-, etc. meaning "sharp, spine, spiney, thorny, acid, bitter, needle, sour". -ac- also occurs in medical and scientific word parts -acme-, acro-, and acromio-. (Yes, we're going to cover all these word parts in the near future.) [acid, from L. acere, to be sour, acerbic, lit. sharp, fig. sour or bitter in taste, acetic, lit. to be sour, fig. relating to vinegar, acrid, fig. harsh or bitterly pungent, acuity, fig. sharpness, acumen, acuteness of mind, acescence, lit. the state of becoming sour, acetabulum, lit. a shallow vinegar bowl, acanthesthesia, lit. feeling a thorn condition, acicular, lit. a small pin, acidosis, lit. acid condition, state, or process, aculeate, lit. having small spines, Acuaria spiralis, lit. needle animal group - spiraled]

blue emboldened words are common or college terms we can use for word association. reddish brown emboldened words are medical terms and should be looked up in a medical dicitionary for their figurative meanings.

Memory story: [Using the -ac- common to all the word parts listed:] "Ach" (-ac-) would be the sound you would make during numerous SS STABbiNgS (sharp, spine, spiney, thorny, acid, bitter, needle, sour) and also being made to drink acid and bitter solutions. [This memory story is a bit different then the one in my book. I think it's better.]

Now let's do the Bill of Rights' third amendment which is in regards to the quartering of soldiers. We're going to substitute the word "tree" for "three" in this memory story and for those who know Mnemonics' Link/Phonetic system the word "ma" is used.

Memory story: There's a bunch of British soldiers in your "tree" house and your "ma" is telling them to get out it. Of course, being the ever enterprising lady that she is, your ma tells them they can stay if they each come up with a quarter. Which is about ten cents more than you have invested in the place with all the found lumber and nails you used to build your tree house.

[This amendment doesn't seem that relevant today but prior to the Revolutionary War the British Army could come into your house, search it to insure all your documents and papers were stamped with the hated Stamp Act stamps, quarter their soldiers, make you feed them and their horses, and even throw you out of your house and use it for their own purposes. That's why it was felt important enough to be number three.]

Remembering word parts ab-, abs-, apo-, and the Second Amendment

ab-, abs- and apo- like many common word parts, have been bandied about for centuries and consequently they have more than one meaning. To keep from using rote memorization, any more than we have to, I like to use acronyms. Especially if I can back up their meanings like we do in the memory stories below. Yes, acronyms require a bit of rote but it isn't mindless but mindful repetition with a back up, which will help us recall information for a lifetime.

[blue emboldened words are common or college terms, reddish brown words are medical terms that should be looked up in a medical dictionary]

ab-, abs- from L. ab-, off means "separation, off, from, away". [abductor, lit. one who or that which leads away, fig. a kidnapper; a muscle, absolve, lit. to loose from, fig. to set free or release from debt, responsibility, or guilt, ablate, lit. carry or take away, abscess, lit. a going away, abstract, lit. to draw away]

Memory story: You're Abe (ab-, abs-) Lincoln lying on a SOFA (separation, off, from, away) in the White House and have a dream about looking off into an abyss (abs-). Upon waking you have a strange feeling of separation or going away when your wife asks you to get up and get ready to go to the theater.

apo- from Gr. apo, away from, off, means "separation, off, from, away". [apostate, lit. stand away, fig. one who has left their religion, apobiosis, lit. away from life condition, apocrine, lit. separate from, Apocynum, lit. from dog, apophysis, lit. growing off process]

Memory story: You've gone off to write a poem (apo-). Lying on your SOFA (separation, off, from, away) you've managed to get away from everybody so you can think.

Now let's do the Bill of Rights' second amendment, the right to keep and bear arms. We're going to substitute the word "zoo" for "two" in this memory story.

Memory story: You're looking over the "zoo" that Noah has on his ark and notice that the two bears are walking around the deck bearing arms.

[Note to advanced memory students.: If you know Mnemonic's link/phonetic system (which I'll cover in upcoming blogs) I'm sure you've noticed that I've placed "Noah" in today's Bill of Rights memory story and "tea" in yesterdays. The reason why is I don't want people to have to go back and start over if they decide to use the Link system later on. Which I hope they will.]

On Monday, Jan. 18th, we're going to do -ac-. -ac- is a very popular word root that has been used to create numerous word parts. Consequently, it too has at least eight meanings but we're going to breeze through it and the Bill of Right's third amendment.

High Speed Memory Techniques for Medical Terminology

Introduction to Associative Memory Techniques

Struggling Student's Memory Guide is to help students find ways to use associative memory techniques and quit using rote memorization as much as possible. One of the many ways I think this can be done is by using special memory stories created by instructors and/or their students, and/or people like me who enjoy dabbling with this creative memory technique. I will not bore you with the details of how I believe associative memory techniques work or should be created here, but will allow these details to arise from postings, comments, and questions in the future as I post examples of memory stories and other associative techniques on a daily basis. My examples will be from numerous subjects but mostly they'll be about medical and scientific word parts because: (1) Pragmatically that's what I have the greatest number of associative memory techniques for (my book) and (2) I believe it is possible for every high school student to have a medical or scientific vocabulary by using association to remember medical and scientific word part meanings for a lifetime. So let's get started from the beginning with parts a- and an-.

blue words are common or college terms. reddish brown words are medical terms which should be looked up in a medical dictionary for their figurative meanings.

a-, an- from Gr. means "not, without". [amoral, lit. without morals, atom, lit. uncut, fig. ultimate particle of an element once believed indivisible, anarchy, lit. without rule state, fig. a state of lawlessness or political disorder, anonymous, lit. without a name, fig. bearing no name, identity, or source, acormus, lit. without a trunk, Agamofilaria, lit. an unmarried thread, agenesis, lit. without production, anaerobe, lit. life without air, anaphia, lit. without touch condition, anemia, lit. without blood condition, hemiacardius, lit. without half a heart, prosopoagnasia, lit. without knowledge of faces condition]

Memory story: "Not without an (an-) A (a-) average", taunts your parents by jingling the keys in front of you to that little red sports car parked out in the driveway. [This memory story includes the four words "not without an A" placed in a logical order making it much easier to remember than the original definition. Yes, they require a few repetitions unless you've heard those four words most of your life already.]

Now let's do the USA's Bill of Rights' first amendment. We're going to use the word "run" to remind us of the word "one" and we're going to use the acronym RASP Pie to help us remember freedom of religion, right to assemble, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and the right to petition.

Memory story: The jailers in a foreign country in Southeast Asia have allowed you to have tea with your five friends who have been incarcerated for violating each one of the rights and freedoms in the first amendment. You have surreptitiously brought your friends a RASP Pie or a pie with five rasps in it to cut through the bamboo bars that holds them. Once they've cut through you all run for your lives. [Acronyms are one of my favorite ways to remember a list of things. A perfect acronym is rare so we have to get a bit creative sometimes. Acronyms are a short-term memory technique that requires some repetition but unlike this one we can sometimes do a memory backup with details from the story. See ab- tomorrow for an example.]