Mnemonic for "Tariff"?
February 16, 2009 9:27 PM Subscribe
Today, my economics professor mentioned that he always had trouble spelling "tariff" (deciding if it had two "r"s or two "f"s) until one of his students taught him a mnemonic device so dirty, he refused to share it with our class. Any ideas?
If your professor is European then the device may play upon the similar pronunciation of "two R's" and "arse".
posted by Joe in Australia at 9:35 PM on February 16, 2009
posted by Joe in Australia at 9:35 PM on February 16, 2009
No clue, really. Science's is a nice solution.
The most useful dirty mnemonic I ever learned was the one that's taught me to reliably spell fuchsia (rather than fuschia): it's fucksia.
posted by ocherdraco at 9:36 PM on February 16, 2009
The most useful dirty mnemonic I ever learned was the one that's taught me to reliably spell fuchsia (rather than fuschia): it's fucksia.
posted by ocherdraco at 9:36 PM on February 16, 2009
My guess is that there is no mnemonic. Claiming that there's a series of words so dirty that he can't repeat it will stick with you. It's a way to draw attention to the situation, thereby making you remember that there's a trick to spelling tariff. The Aristocrats!
posted by allen.spaulding at 9:37 PM on February 16, 2009 [5 favorites]
posted by allen.spaulding at 9:37 PM on February 16, 2009 [5 favorites]
The sheriff is a Fuck-Face, and so are his tariffs.
posted by fleacircus at 9:42 PM on February 16, 2009
posted by fleacircus at 9:42 PM on February 16, 2009
Tariffs have two f's because it's getting fucked financially?
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 9:45 PM on February 16, 2009
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 9:45 PM on February 16, 2009
I suspect that, by encouraging his students to come up with dirty mnemonic devices, this professor has ensured that none of them will ever again misspell the word. In other words, he's conning you.
posted by aladfar at 9:52 PM on February 16, 2009 [2 favorites]
posted by aladfar at 9:52 PM on February 16, 2009 [2 favorites]
Dammit, spaulding beat me to it. So much for feeling clever.
posted by aladfar at 9:53 PM on February 16, 2009
posted by aladfar at 9:53 PM on February 16, 2009
Best answer: That Ain't Roast-beef! It's For Fucking!
posted by chrisamiller at 10:04 PM on February 16, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by chrisamiller at 10:04 PM on February 16, 2009 [1 favorite]
One aRse to Eff?
posted by redsparkler at 10:30 PM on February 16, 2009 [5 favorites]
posted by redsparkler at 10:30 PM on February 16, 2009 [5 favorites]
The way I was taught the difference between dessert and desert is that I'd rather have two desserts (yum!) than two deserts (yech, sandy). Perhaps in a similar fashion, when faced with either two "R"s or two "F"s, which would you choose? Assuming you can think of something dirty to associate with "F", you're home free.
posted by funkiwan at 10:40 PM on February 16, 2009
posted by funkiwan at 10:40 PM on February 16, 2009
Best answer: This ample rack? It's for fondling.
posted by so_necessary at 10:55 PM on February 16, 2009
posted by so_necessary at 10:55 PM on February 16, 2009
Did I tell you about my sheep? Tony Always Rapes It For Fun.
posted by Mike1024 at 11:51 PM on February 16, 2009
posted by Mike1024 at 11:51 PM on February 16, 2009
Best answer: Tight Asshole Renders It Fully Functional.
Terrific Amateur Rides In Fuck Film.
Tape And Rope Incite Freaky Fucking.
Torn Asshole Reveals It's Fred's First.
Teams Argue Rape Is Fantastic Fun.
Terrible Accident Renders Ivan's Fucker Fractured.
Oh! I have it!
Taters/Tators Are Remarkably Interchanged For Fuck-sticks.
posted by Netzapper at 1:50 AM on February 17, 2009 [4 favorites]
Terrific Amateur Rides In Fuck Film.
Tape And Rope Incite Freaky Fucking.
Torn Asshole Reveals It's Fred's First.
Teams Argue Rape Is Fantastic Fun.
Terrible Accident Renders Ivan's Fucker Fractured.
Oh! I have it!
Taters/Tators Are Remarkably Interchanged For Fuck-sticks.
posted by Netzapper at 1:50 AM on February 17, 2009 [4 favorites]
netzapper, I give you the 'most likely to think of the best acronyms' award... Remind me never to play you at Balderdash :) spaulding deserves the best answer, though, since it's probably the most correct one :)
posted by chrisinseoul at 4:47 AM on February 17, 2009
posted by chrisinseoul at 4:47 AM on February 17, 2009
@chrisinseoul
While I certainly don't think that any of my answers is the acronym that the prof had in his head, without more context I can't agree that spaulding's answer is even probably correct.
I did think about that hypothesis for a while. But, I can't figure out why the prof would lie about that. I mean, if it were a goal of the class to spell "tariff", I would agree--profs lie all the time in the name of education. It's possible, but not strictly probable in my estimation. Basically, I'm having trouble imagining an econ prof caring about spelling enough that particular word to concoct psychological trickery for this purpose.
I had lots of profs who bantered about whatever popped into their head while they wrote notes on the board, because they wrote very much slower than they were going to lecture and didn't want to get out of synch. If it was an aside or off-the-cuff comment as he wrote the word on the whiteboard, a one-liner, without emphasis, taking up essentially none of his precious class time... I bet he did have a mnemonic for spelling the word. And the best mnemonics are dirty.
For instance, I remembered a set of streets in Center City Philly as: Most Chicks Screw With Lightly Sopping Pussies (Market, Chestnut, Sansom, Walnut, Locust, Spruce, Pine).
By the way, thank you. It's a gift. And yeah, it does help out in a lot of word games. Scategories is my favorite. However, I'm terrible at Scrabble. And, to be fair, I have great admiration for chrisamiller's contribution.
posted by Netzapper at 5:15 AM on February 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
While I certainly don't think that any of my answers is the acronym that the prof had in his head, without more context I can't agree that spaulding's answer is even probably correct.
I did think about that hypothesis for a while. But, I can't figure out why the prof would lie about that. I mean, if it were a goal of the class to spell "tariff", I would agree--profs lie all the time in the name of education. It's possible, but not strictly probable in my estimation. Basically, I'm having trouble imagining an econ prof caring about spelling enough that particular word to concoct psychological trickery for this purpose.
I had lots of profs who bantered about whatever popped into their head while they wrote notes on the board, because they wrote very much slower than they were going to lecture and didn't want to get out of synch. If it was an aside or off-the-cuff comment as he wrote the word on the whiteboard, a one-liner, without emphasis, taking up essentially none of his precious class time... I bet he did have a mnemonic for spelling the word. And the best mnemonics are dirty.
For instance, I remembered a set of streets in Center City Philly as: Most Chicks Screw With Lightly Sopping Pussies (Market, Chestnut, Sansom, Walnut, Locust, Spruce, Pine).
By the way, thank you. It's a gift. And yeah, it does help out in a lot of word games. Scategories is my favorite. However, I'm terrible at Scrabble. And, to be fair, I have great admiration for chrisamiller's contribution.
posted by Netzapper at 5:15 AM on February 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
Ahem. Teachers are really into fist-fucking.
posted by Robert Angelo at 8:51 AM on February 17, 2009 [3 favorites]
posted by Robert Angelo at 8:51 AM on February 17, 2009 [3 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Science! at 9:32 PM on February 16, 2009