h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I use this one with my pupils to help them remember the order of the nine planets starting from Mercury

My Very Excellent Mother Just Sent Us Nine Pizzas

My = Mercury, Mars sounds like Ma which is Mother.

I also add a twist - I teach them it using sign language as kinaesthetic learning!

I've always used a different device to remember the planets -

My Very Excellent Method: Just Say You Know Planets

I know the words, when written down, don't all begin with the correct letters, but that never mattered. It's always been a spoken thing with me, so the words' sounds rather than spellings were more important.

The one I was taught is '(So) many vultures eat mucky jam sandwiches under naughty people'! The 'So' is optionally used to refer to the Sun - a sort of fail-safe in case you can't remember which direction you're going...

the one I was taught was "my very eager mother just showed us nine planets" which has the advantage of being tied to the subject as well.

The German equivalent is:

'Mein Vater erklärt mir jeden Sonntag unsere neuen Pläne' - which translates roughly, 'Every Sunday my father explains our new plans to me'. Doesn't make any more sense than the English ones, though...

Men Very Easily Make Jugs Serve Useful Needs (and) Purposes.

This one dates from before the discovery of Pluto, but Purposes was tacked on. The first two letters of the first five words give the Planets. For the outer planets, it is only the first letter that matches.

Mexican Vultures Enjoy Making Jam Sauce Using New Plums.

Which was so ridiculous I rembered it.

We have "My very easy method just speeds up naming planets

"So Many Vegetarians Eat Marmalade Jam Sandwiches Unless Nibbling Porridge"

I had this old geezer in first year with a hearing aid who thought this was the time to expand our vocabulary, plus he didn;t approve of a former education secretary who had jsut become Prime Minister.

Many Vexed Educationalists Mumour; Just Say Universally Nine Planets

I know Gnomon but slightly differently and with the added redundent word.

Men Very Easily Make Jugs Serve Useful Nocturnal Purposes

Oh for the days when people still had bed pans.