Your favorite mnemonics?

I’m still pretty new to WaniKani, but I’ve already seen some pretty ridiculous/hilarious mnemonics. These are one of the main reasons why I’ve come to prefer WaniKani over other options, like RTK.

What are your favorite mnemonics? I think the one that has stood out the most for me so far is this:


You visit your mom who lives inside of a car. It’s sad, and you feel bad. The first thing that pops out of your mouth is: "Cool Room, Ma (くるま) because you don’t know what else to say about your ma’s living situation.

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Mrs. Chou will always be my favorite. Maybe because that is the one which made me really “get” mnemonics.

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The reading mnemonic for 時 was pretty funny to me.

Time in a temple makes you think of Jesus (じ). Specifically, Jesus being able to perform time travel magic. He winks at you, goes back to the dinosaur ages, where he wrestles a T-rex. Then, he goes to WWII era and punches Hitler in the mouth.

the two that’ve stuck in my mind a year or more later have been sugar tom (姿) and the auto-rope (衰える).

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I LOVE the mnemonics. I have a very vivid imagination. I started paying for WaniKani as a Christmas gift to myself. I’ve loved languages all my life and have dabbled with several. I’m now in my fifties and don’t want my brain to turn to mush. Having imbued my children with a love of languages and Japan, and having one daughter who has studied Japanese, I finally dove in and am having so much fun! What I do is use the suggested mnemonics as a springboard and create my own. The homophones drive me nuts, but I’ve turned them into a strength, weaving stories around them, and when I get another shi- (I’m up to 8 now!) I just add it to the story. For example, death. After describing 4 nasty yakuzas making someone dig his own grave with a spoon and wrapping him in a SHEEt to throw him in the grave, I wrote, “STOP! What are you doing?? Look at yourself! What would your mother in the city think of her child now??” Haha! It really helps me to connect them! (Oh, and the older sister in the city with the SHEEp is an undercover agent stopping the yakuza’s child-kidnapping ring - she’s saved 4 so far!) :wink:

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Mr. Chou and Jesus stuck into my mind lately.

“Only the heavy go to heaven”, said by your obese じゅう (Jew) uncle.
This one works for me because it took me by surprise and I was like “WTF”. I love stupid puns. :sweat_smile:

It got replaced in the Wanikani Overhaul, probably because using “Jew” as a mnemonic could be offensive, I guess.

“いずみ, Mario!” and the Mob of Roshis also work pretty well.

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I’m enjoying this Mrs. Chou character. That, and all the Koichi mnemonics have made こう my default whenever I’m not sure about a kanji.

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Definitely german hard gay, though it will be lost to the new people because hard gay isn’t a mnemonic anymore : (

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What I’d like to know is who’s the lunatic that writes the example sentences?

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My favorite is sadly not from Wanikani, but one I made up myself. It’s for 朋. I think of it like this: “(The stupid dog) Moon-Moon is one of a kind, he has no friends and no companions”. I always thought that was kinda funny.

I’ve learned 頑 today and its mnemonic instantly became my favorite:

The geoduck race is so stubborn that it refused to evolve into an animal that made any sense.

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All of Ms. Chou and Koichi mnemonics are great, today I’ve learned 他 (hoe-car) which was pretty hilarious.

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泉 - I actually still giggle to myself every time I type いずみ in on my reviews

You’re looking at a natural spring in the ground. Water is bubbling up, but then something changes. It looks a bit clogged… something is poking out. Then, all of a sudden, Mario flies out of the springs, falls in front of you and yells: “izumeeeee (いずみ), Mario!”

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Just found this one today. :laughing:

After you’ve nursed こういち back to health, he explains that he was put here by a clone こういち–the very same こういち who became emperor. He tells you he can think of around 61-70 different pain levels of revenge, but also that “it probably wouldn’t be worth it, so let’s just hang out for a while instead. Ooh, are those cookies?”

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I don’t quite get that mnemonics, I don’t understand what this izumeee really means (some Mario quote/sound maybe?), I tried to google it a little but with a little success, the only thing I have found was this cool thread :slight_smile: If anybody could shed some light on it I would be really grateful.

It’s referring to the way Mario says “It’s me”.

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Not a WK one, but a pretty one I always seem to remember…

みずうみ

An old (古) couple, sit by a LAKE (氵) at night, watching the reflection of the moon (月).

Ahhh, cool. Thanks! :slight_smile:

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