Memorizing word part acro-

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 can be used for word association purposes.

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

acro- from Gr. akros, means "highest point, topmost, extreme". [acronym, lit. topmost name, fig. a word formed from the initial letters of multiple words, Acropolis, lit. highest point of a city, fig. though numerous the fortified citadel in Athens is the best known, acrobat, from Gr. akrobatos, walking tiptoe, climbing aloft, acromion, acroanesthesia, lit. without feeling in an extreme place, acromegalic, lit. largeness in an extreme place] (see -ac-) (see acromio- tomorrow)

Memory Story: You always wanted to see what it was like at the highest or topmost point of the ship in a crow's (acro-, not related) nest. Just not during the storm you're being whipped around in now during your first watch.

Remember medical/scientifc word part acri-

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 use 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.

acri- from L. acer, sharp, means "acrid, sharp, biting, corrosive". [acrimony, lit. sharp condition, fig. sharpness or severity of temper, language, disposition, or manner, acridine, Chem., acriflavine, Chem.] (see -ac-)

Memory Story: You buy Acres of Diamonds. (acri-) A place so named because it is covered with crystalline CuBeS. (corrosive, biting, sharp) Everyone thinks you're nuts because the cubes are sharp as razors, corrosive if you hold one in your hands, and bitingly bitter and caustic if you're stupid enough to put one in your mouth. You're going to make a fortune though because you've secretly discovered the ground up cubes can be used in dyes and have a multitude of other uses in the medical field.

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 word part acm-, acme-, akme-

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 use for word association purposes.

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

Memory story and word part taken from High Speed Memory Techniques for Medical Terminology.

acm-, acme-, akme- from Gr. akme, a point or edge, means "a point, a highest piont or a figurative highest point (such as the crisis in a disease, prime time in life or a cycle)". [acme, the top or highest point attainable, acmesthesia, lit. point sensation or feeling, anakmesis, lit. not highest point condition, menacme, lit. menstral prime, paracme, lit. beyond the highest point] (see -ac-)

Memory Story: (Going after the prime time in a life or cycle meaning.) You're in the movie Logan's Run and at the prime of your life when your friend asks whose hand is blinking. "Ach me", (acme-) you cry just noticing the blinking jewel. "Cool. Tomorrow you can float up to the highest point of the dome and get blasted into atoms!" your friends all yell with glee.

Remembering medical and scientific word parts acin-, botry-, racemi-, staphyl, -uv-, uvul-

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 that may be of interest.

Word parts and memory stories taken from High Speed Memory Techniques for Medical Terminology.

All the word parts today means "shaped like a grape or a bunch of grapes".

acin-, acini- from L. acinus, grape or grapestone, concisely means "grape shaped structure or acinus, one of the small grape shaped sacs or alveoli in a racemose gland". [aciniform, lit. grape shaped structure form, acinous, lit. grape shaped structure characteristic]

botry- from Gr. botrys means "something that looks like a cluster of grapes". [botyroid, lit. looks like a bunch of grapes, Botryomyces, lit. grape cluster fungus]

racemi-, racemo- from L. racemus, a bunch of berries, a cluster of grapes, means "shaped like grapes or having something to do with racemic acid (an acid found in the juice of grapes) and it enantiomorphic qualities". [raisin, racemase, lit. a bunch of grapes enzyme, raceme, Chem. an optically inactive chemical compound, racemization, lit. the state or process of making raceme, racemose, lit. looks like a bunch of grapes]

-staphyl-, staphylo- from Gr. staphyle, a bunch of grapes, means "shaped like a grape or a bunch of grapes; having something to do with the uvula, uvula paletina or staphylococcus". [staph infection, Med. infected with Staphylococcus aureus, hypsistaphlia, lit. high uvula condition, staphylagra, lit. uvula seizer, staphylion, lit. grape (uvula paletina) craniometric point, Staphylococcus, lit. grape berry, staphylodermatitis, lit. staphylococcus skin inflammation, staphyloptosis, lit. uvula falling, stylostaphyline, lit. relating to the styloid process of the temporal bone and uvula]

-uv, uvi- from L. uva, grape, means "grape shaped". [uvea, uviform, lit. grape shaped, uvula] (see -uve- and uvul-)

-uve-, uveo- from L. uva, grape, concisely means "uvea, the posterior pigmented area of the iris or the entire uveal tract". [uveitis, lit. inflammation of the uveal tract, uveoencephalitis, lit. uveal tract brain inflammation, uveoscleritis, lit. uveal tract and sclera inflammation]

uvul-, uvulo- from L. uvula, little grape, means "the uvula palatina or a part that looks like the uvula palatina". [uvulitis, lit. inflammation of the uvula palatina, uvuloptosis, lit. uvula palatina falling]

Memory story 1: [This is one of the things I like about memory stories as a mnemonic technique. Sometimes we can pack them with lots of things we want to remember. In this case we're going to put four word parts together in a very short memory story. You're racing Moses (acin-, acinus, racemi-, racemose) as you both try (botry-) to stay full (staphyl-) of grapes and win the grape-eating contest.

Memory story 2: Your patient has been on the new grape diet where they only eat grapes. Your patient however has stuffed themselves all the way up to their uvula in order to stay full (-staphyl-).

Memory story 3: "Wow! Look what happens when you expose grapes to UV (-uv-) light," says the kid munching down a handful of raisins.

Remembering the Bill of Rights' Ninth Amendment

The Bill of Rights' ninth amendment deals with the rights of the people that are not specifically enumerated in the Constitution. Verbatim it reads: The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

To remember this we're going to memorize these words verbatim. [Yes, memorizing anything verbatim is tough.] The reason why [Besides my belief that this is the most practical way to remember this difficult amendment.] is this amendment's wording should be pondered. So for "nine" we're going to substitute the word "dine" and for those who know the link/peg/phonetic system we'll use the word "bee".

Memory story: You're entering your favorite, albeit very strange, restaurant where a "bee" maitre 'de escorts you to where you will "dine". Bee waiters then bring you all your favorite dishes. [Which you must very carefully visualize as they're brought to your table.] Starting with dessert he brings you "the new maraschino in the Constitution" cake (The enumeration in the constitution). A cake called a Constitution that has ten red, white, and blue maraschino cherries in every piece (which you count or enumerate very carefully) and a brown piece of sugared rice paper that looks like the Constitution over the top and edged with brown frosting. Then there's "Certs in rice" (certain rights) and "shelled nuts" (shall not). Followed by "bacon stew" or "bee can stew" (be construed), "as two deans eye" (as to deny) "your dish of porridge" (or disparage) made from "utters re-stained by people" (others retained by the people). [We want to remember this for a lifetime so take your time and do this one without any distractions. Then visualize it again tomorrow morning when your mind is freshest and before getting out of bed.]

Remembering word part -acid-

The goal of Struggling Student's Memory Guide is to develop ways to use association and mnemonic memory techniques, instead of using 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 from High Speed Memory Techniques for Medical Terminology.

-acid-, -acidi-, -acido- from L. acidus, sharp, sour, means "sharp, sour". [acid, sour, sharp, or biting to taste, acidify, lit making acid, fig. to convert into an acid, acidemia, lit. blood acid condition, acidosis, lit. acid state or condition, aciduria, lit. acid urine condition, hyperacid, lit. excessive or beyond normal acid, peracid, Chem.] (see -ac-)

[No memory story necessary for this blog but we'll make up for it tomorrow when we do five word parts at the same time in a memory story.]

Remembering the Bill of Rights' Eighth Amendment

The Bill of Rights' Eighth Amendment deals with cruel and/or unusual punishment and excessive bail or fines.

In this memory story we're going to substitute "gate" for "eight" and for those who use the Link/Peg/Phonetic system we're going to use "ivy".

Memory story: You're trying to get your friend out of a foreign prison renowned for its cruelty. You walk past the manicured "ivy" covered wall and the guard lets you through the squeaky "gate". What contrast there is between the peaceful street scene and this prison. There are punishments going on here that are right out of the Spanish Inquisition. It has moved you and all your friends and their family to part with all the moneys you have to bail your friend out of prison and pay his fine before he is subjected to the same treatment. He never should have parked in El General's parking place as a joke because they obviously don't have a sense of humor here.

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 the Bill of Rights' Seventh 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 for a lifetime.

The Bill of Rights' Seventh Amendment is the right to a jury trial in certain civil trials.

In this Memory Story we're going to substitute "heaven" for "seven" and for those who know the Link/Peg/Phonetic system we're going to use "cow".

Memory story: Well you're in trouble again. You got this great idea of selling "indulgences" to your friends and neighbors so they can go to "heaven" no matter what sin they've committed. (Well it seemed like a good idea at the time.) You use a statue of a "cow" as proof they've purchased an indulgence and you sell these Holy Cows for twenty one dollars. Now there's a great big civil suit and everyone wants there money back. Off to court you go and the judge (who has a serious mean look like Martin Luther) keeps telling the jury what they should pay attention to and what they shouldn't. If he doesn't keep his mouth shut you're going to be burned at the stake along with all your little Holy Cows.

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.

Remembering the Bill of Right's sixth 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 sixth amendment is about our rights related to criminal prosecution in a federal court. It's pretty extensive but the highlights of our rights are: Speedy Trial, Public Trial, Impartial Jury, Counsel, Confrontation and Cross Examining of Witnesses, and Notice of Accusation.

We're going to substitute "six" with "sticks" and for those who know the Link/Peg/Phonetic system we're going to use the word "shoe". We're also going to use the acronym SPICe CaN for Speedy trial, Public trial, Impartial jury, Counsel, Confrontation and Notice of accusation.

Memory story: (We're going to steal from Dr. Seuss.) You're the Grinch and have been a bad boy this year so you get sticks and coal in your shoes again for Christmas. (Which can be used as a switch should anyone be so inclined to use it on you.) Misanthrope that you are you decide to steal every SPICe CaN of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves in Whoville making Christmas a little less festive. No pumpkin pie, spiced yams, eggnog, muled wine, or hot buttered rum for them you think as you go about your nasty business. You're just about to complete your mischief when you get pinched.
You immediately get charged by the federal government because this is a federal crime it being so horrendous.
You're given a speedy trial out in the public square and your impartial jury (a toothless bunch of Whos who must have left their partials at home) is selected by your appointed counsel (your school councilor who was the first person you stole a spice can from) and the district attorney. You're looking at all the witnesses you get to confront as they read your Notice of Accusation, which took about twenty minutes longer than your trial. (You've been a very bad boy, especially around this holiday.) Your punishment? Banished to Mount Crumpet for the rest of your life. Yea, well wait til next year's Christmas you think. I'll show 'em.

Remembering medical/scientific word part -acerb-

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.

-acerb- from L. acerbus, sour, means "bitter, sour" [acerbity, lit. sour or bitter state, fig. a sourness of taste with sharp bitterness or astringency; like that of unripe fruit, exacerbate, lit. to make intensively bitter or sour, fig. to render more violent or bitter as a disease, pain, or annoyance, exacerbation, lit. intensively bitter or sour process] (see -ac-)

Warning, this memory story is violent and hence rendered in red.

Memory story: You're a Serb (acerb-, not related) terrorist who is very embittered with the way your people have been treated. You're standing on a snow covered street chewing on the only thing you can find to eat, bitter crab apples. Finally, the Archduke Ferdinand is a chauffeured alongside and you fire your pistol killing him and unfortunately his wife and unborn child. The events to follow are only exacerbated by the world leaders who use it as a reason to start World War I.

Remembering medical/scientific word part -aceae, -acea

The goal of Struggling Student's Memory Guide is to develop ways to use associations and mnemonics instead of rote memorization in school. to quickly remember useful educational information for a lifetime.





These medical word parts and their memory story have been taken from High Speed Memory Techniques for Medical Terminology.





-acea from L. -acea, means "classes or orders of animals". [Crustacea, lit. crusty animals class, Testacea, lit. shelled animal class]





-aceae from L. -aceae, means "orders of families of plants". [Bacteriodaceae, lit. looks like a staff or club plant family, Gymnoascaceae, lit. naked bladder planat family]





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





Memory story: While out in the garden your patient named Ace ate a plant and now he's hallucinating. He believes he is turning into various jungle beasts and is repeatedly describing the hallucination to you as if he were Tarzan. "Ace ate (-aceae) plant. Ace a (-acea) animal now. Ace ate plant. Ace a...." (This memory story uses short logically arranged sentences which require some repetition. It is alway best to keep sentences under four or five words whenever possible because oral information has to be drilled by our short-term memory. Try as we may we can't eliminate rote completely.)

When we do -asis in a few weeks I will post a way I've developed for remembering the intangible meanings of many suffixes using acronyms. Until then let me include this little tidbit that should be posted here even though it isn't really a medical or scientific word ending. Word ending -aceous found in the common terms herbaceous or crustaceous means "belongs to, like, nature of."

So if you're so inclined, add this little phrase on to the end of the memory story above. "Ace's house (-aceous) belong to LioN (like, nature of) now."

Remembering the Bill of Rights' Fifth Amendment

The goal of Struggling Student's Memory Guide is to develop ways to quit using rote memorization and use association instead to quickly remember useful educational information for a lifetime.

The fifth amendment protects us against government abuse in a legal procedure. It's pretty extensive but the keywords are: Grand Jury, Double Jeopardy, Self-Incrimination, Due Process of Law, and Eminent Domain.
Frankly the fifth amendment is pretty tough and when things get tough in association and mnemonics one of the best things we can do is take a walk. A mental walk that is and we're going to do ours in your local neighborhood park.

The memory story that follows includes a Loci (location) or a mental walk through a place you're familiar with and where you've made visual connections to things in advance. So read through the memory story and then go to the park to make your visual connections. (Yes, I know it sounds crazy but you have to go to the park because we want to remember this for a lifetime. Everytime you go by that park this memory story will get remembered.)

We're going to substitute "hive" for "five" and for those who know the Link/Peg/Phonetic System we'll use "owl".

Memory Story: You're walking through your park and spot a hive flowing over with honey. You break into it to scoop some honey out when all the animals yell and you're immediately arrested by a couple of bears bearing arms. They take you to the wise old owl who realizes you're scared because you don't how the legal system works in this park. The owl wants you to know you won't be legally abused but will have a fair trial here in this park.

He shows you the Grand Jury, a jury of animals in a grand piano (over on top of that picnic table maybe). Thankfully there's no bees in the grand jury because they want you tried as a terrorist and sent to a military court because in their opinion what you did to them was an act of war.

Then there's Alex Trabech from tv's Jeopardy (over by the swings maybe) who will make sure you won't be tried twice for the same hive destruction.

The owl points to the empty witness chair (the slide maybe) you don't have to sit in and the microphone you don't have to talk into.

Then he shows you his DiPLoma (due process of law) (over on that big tree maybe) that insures he knows all the ins and outs of making sure you get a fair trial.

Finally he shows you the M&M doughman (eminent domain). A gargantuan doughman covered with M&M's going around and taking trees, tables, and what have you, but pays the animals and humans with M&M's and dough for their property. It's okay because the M&M doughman always does it legally the owl assures you. (Hopefully the M&M doughman won't grab up your park or he'll make your Loci just a memory.)

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.

Remembering word part -acanth-

Struggling Student's Memory Guide goal is to develop different ways for students to use associative long-term memory techniques and quit relying on rote memorization. I will be posting medical and scientific word part meanings from my book on a daily basis along with other associations and mnemonics I've developed over the years. Please feel free to share them and submit your memory ideas. Undoubtedly, we can all use all the memory help we can get. Thank you.

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

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

orange emboldened words are terms of interest from other fields of study than medical terminology.

-acanth-, acantho- from Gr. akantha, thorn, prickle, means "thorn, spiney, spine, prickly" (possibly from -ac-, sharp + -anther-, flower or -ac-, sharp + -canthus, corner) [acanthus, a prickly plant that's leaves are used as a carved motif on Corinthian columns and moldings, acanthion, lit. thorn craniometric point, Acanthocephala, lit. thorn head, acanthoma, lit. prickly tumor, cystacanth, lit. bladder thorn, paracanthoma, lit. alongside prickly tumor, coelacanth, lit. hollow spine, Zoo. a prehistoric fish (with a hollow spine) once thought extinct. (see -ac-)

From an associative memory point of view the word acanthus is an excellent thing to associate to. If you're unfamiliar with this college term please follow this link.

Memory story: You're a campus (acanthus) landscape artist and create planting beds of acanthus, holly hedges, and bougainvillea arbors to keep students from taking short cuts through the planters.

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.]