What is the meaning of the sentence "My very excellent mother just served us nine pies"?

It is a mnemonic phrase to help a person remember the order of the planets. My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nine Pies = Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto. Since Pluto has been demoted to a dwarf planet, one might choose the sentence "My very excellent mother just served us noodles."

HOMES is an example of a name mnemonic (or acronym) for the Great Lakes: Lake Huron, Lake Ontario, Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, and Lake Superior. A common example of a music mnemonic is the ABC song children sing to remember the alphabet.

There are many kinds of mnemonics and many different uses, such as spelling, order of things, math, music, and foreign language. Mnemonics even have medical use!

Mnemonics have been used for aiding patients with a memory deficit from different causes and conditions. In most cases, it is very helpful. Stroke victims, however, don't show much statistical significance.

More Info: en.m.wikipedia.org

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71 Comments

Warren Domke

Pluto may be a dwarf but it will always be a planet to me.

ninakamwene

Got this excellent and learning trivia. Here is another one: BYOB (Bring Your Own Booze). Thank you.

Peter Robertson

It's harder to remember the phrase than the order of the planets.

Rick Wolsey

Pluto doesn’t really care one way or the other.

littledick

ninakamwene, And more recent - LOL Like yours better! I one does BYOB, one probably will LOL.

cgrhm

this is the first time I've heard of this phrase. I can't imagine it would help me in remembering the names and order of the planets.Which I do.

marvellous

In my school, they say "My very excellent mother just served us Nut''

Little Safari

My Very Eyes May Just See Under Nine Planets is what I was also taught

Chris Brown

Yes, Pluto was demoted to a "minor" planet so should not be there. However, since this phrase was written before this occurred, it would have held true back then.