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Mnemonic for the planets in Indian English

English Language & Usage Asked by Arunabh Bhattacharya on December 1, 2020

The most common planetary mnemonic is:

My very educated mother just served us nine pizzas

Another popular planetary mnemonic is:

My very educated mother just showed us nine planets

A planetary mnemonic without Pluto is:

My very educated mother just served us noodles

There are many other mnemonics as mentioned at Mnemonic device.

So why do Indians sometimes use the word "elegant" in the mnemonic instead of "educated":

My very elegant mother just served us nine pizzas

or

My very elegant mother just showed us nine planets

or without Pluto

My very elegant mother just served us noodles?

One Answer

I think the premise of your question, that this specific usage is unique to Indian English. is incorrect. This variant of the mnemonic (or other variants using 'Elegant Mother') can be found in US published books going back to at least the mid 1980's.

It may be that one of these books was the ultimate source for some standardised science text that was popular in India, but researching that is probably out of the scope of this site!

Correct answer by JeffUK on December 1, 2020

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