TELEPHONE NUMBER MEMORY SYSTEM

Most people 'just can't' remember telephone numbers! Inorder to overcome this disability they employ ail kinds ofelaborate systems (and some not so elaborate), ranging fromthe person who keeps card files ofthe numbers he needs to re-member and carries these around with him, to the one whojots down numbers on odd pieces of paper and is continuallyringing the wrong person!Remembering telephone numbers is actually not difficult atall as long as we remember the number-letter correspondencefrom the major system. All that is necessary is to substitute aletter for the number we wish to remember. Having done this,we make up association words that link the number to theperson.Let us try this with the ten people from the initial test:
Your local butcher
Your dentist
Your bank manager
Your doctor
Your local grocer
Your local chemist
Your tennis partner
Your plumber
Your local pub
Your garage
HSM-8737
NAH-9107
CAM-5323
HOB-3981
CEL-8801
BOT-9939
SER-4112
LEA-8519
PMB-1427
TRK-9340
In these examples we have letters as well as numbers to dealwith, but these will prove of little difficulty as you shall soonsee.The butcher's number—HSM-8737—starts with theletters 'HSM'. These letters can be remembered in a varietyof ways, but the ones which immediately spring to mind are:'He. Sells .Meat' and 'Ham, Sausages, .Mince'. The numberswe have to deal with are 8737 which can be converted to 'v orf 'k, c, g' 'm' and 'k,c,g'. Our task here is to make up eitherone word which contains these letters in order, two shortwords which also contain these letters in order or four words,the initial letter of which represents the number we are tryingto remember. In the case of the butcher the last of thesechoices is probably the best. We select v, g, m, and hard c togive us ' Very Good Meat Cuts'. We could of course, substi-tute 'Fairly' for 'Very' and 'Gory' for 'Good' etc.As practice on these items is always important, take a quicklook again at the people and their numbers, noting the letters.When you have practised them, consider the following sugges-tions for each one—I am sure that many ofyou will be able tocreate some most original methods!Your dentist—NAH-9107. The initial letters 'NAH' couldform the phrase Weedles Always Hurt' or Wasty AndHorrible!' The letters we have to choose from are (9107) 'p,b','t,d', 's,z, or soft c', and 'k,g. hard c etc.'. One two-word com-bination that we might use for this is 'Bad Suck' becausepeople with toothaches often tend to suck at the painful tooth.A four word suggestion ofa more positive nature is 'Pain DoesCertainly Go' (or 'Come' if you still feel none too kindlytoward your dentist!).Your bank manager—CAM-5923. The letters might beused in the phrases 'Cash And .Money' or, if he has justrefused you a loan, 'Crabby And Mean!' The numberstranslate to the letters 'l', 'm', 'n', 'm' which in view of thesecond phrase, might well be translated into 'Lent Me NoMoney!'Your doctor—HOB-3981. The initial letters could beremembered either by 'HOBble' or 'Heals Our Backs (or.Bones)'. The numbers translate to 'm', 'p,b', 'f,v' and 't,d,th'.An obvious linking phrase is 'Makes Pain Feel Better'.Your local grocer—CEL-8801. The letters fit neatly intothe word 'CELlery', or with a bit ofa stretch, into 'Cabbages,.Extra Leafy'. The numbers translate to the letters 'f,v', 'f,v','s, z soft c', and 't,d,th'. A phrase from this is 'Very FineCelery and Tomatoes'. The initial word could be changedto 'Fairly' or 'Few' and the second to 'Fowl!'.Your local chemist—BOT-9939. The initial letters could beremembered either as the first three of the word 'BOTtle' oras the first letters of'Bottles Of Toxins!' or 'Boxes Of Tissues'.The numbers translate to 'p,b', 'p,b' 'm', and 'p,b. A sug-gested four word phrase is 'Potions, Poisons, Medicines andPills'.Your tennis partner—SER-4112. The initial letters can beremembered as the first three letters ofthe word 'SERve'. Thenumbers translate to the letters 'r', 't,d,th', 't,d,th', and 'n'.Our memory phrase here might be '.Rarely Touches The Net'.Your plumber—LEA-8519. As with the grocer and tennispartner the first three letters fit conveniently into the word'LEAk!. The numbers translate to the letters 'f,v', 'l', 't,d,th',and 'p,b'. Our memory phrase could either be 'Fixes Leaks,Drips and Plumbing' or 'Faulty Lines, Taps and Pipes'.Your local pub—PMB 1427. The initial letters are difficultto make into a word, but can be used in such three letterphrases as 'Publicans Manage Beer'. The numbers translate to't,d,th', 'r', 'n', and 'k, g, hard c etc' In this case there is noneed to make up a phrase—we can contain it all in the oneword 'Drink'.Your garage—TRK 9340. As with the number section ofthe telephone number of your local pub this group of lettersneed not be made into separate words. The word 'TRuCK'perfectly conveys the first three letters. The number translatesto 'p,b' 'm', 'r', and 's,z, soft c'. This can be put into thephrase 'Broken Motor Repair Service'.The examples given above are ofcourse very particular, andit will now be up to you to apply the system outlined to thetelephone numbers which are important for you to remember.In some cases the telephone number may have no letters init at all, as may soon be the general case in Britain when theall-digit number system is completely introduced. This willpresent no extra difficulty, as you simply have three initialnumbers instead of three initial letters, and these threenumbers themselves will be translatable into letters.In some cases the combination of numbers may present agreater than usual difficulty, and 'appropriate' phrases orwords may be almost impossible to devise. In such cases thesolutions are still fairly simple.In the first case, you may make up inappropriate words outof the numbers you have to deal with, and then use the basicsystem, making absurd and exaggerated images which youlink with the person whose telephone number you are tryingto remember.For example, ifthe telephone number ofone ofyour friendswhose hobby is cricket is 411-4276 you would take the MajorSystem word for 41 which is 'rat', the Major word for 142which is 'drain', and the Major word for 76 which is 'cage'.Your image for remembering this number would be of yourfriend swatting a rat instead of a cricket ball and of the ratflying through the air landing in a drain, the iron grill ofwhichis similar to the bars of a cage!The telephone number memory system is easy and enjoy-able to practice, once you have mastered it. As with all othersystems, it requires practice, so before you proceed to thenext chapter make sure you have committed to memory at least10 numbers which are important to you.