How do YOU remember telephone numbers?   I have an average memory, but using Pseudonumerology I can remember ALL the telephone numbers I care to!  First, I convert the long-digit number to a silly word phrase.  (This takes about 5-10 minutes, and is a fun word puzzle, using a reference list.)  It is easy to remember word phrases, and when I want to know the number, I spell the silly words as numbers.  I do this instantly in my head, just like you instantly spell a word like Norway: "N-O-R-W-A-Y" in your head.  YOU can easily learn to remember numbers this way too, if you don't think it sounds too crazy to try!

Here are some examples.  First, the telephone numbers of the forty students who took my geology course last fall.  I memorized their numbers to show them that it is possible to remember lots of new information (such as the new geological terms they must learn), if they are motivated and use good memory techniques.  These are not the only phrases that could be used for these numbers.  But they work fine and I happen to like them.  If YOU used the Ponderous Pseudonumer to solve these word puzzles, you would probably find solutions that you like better.

And how do I associate each silly phrase with each name?   This seems hopelessly difficult to people who haven't tried it.   But somehow it's fun and easy, like associating the phrase "The Big Apple" with New York City.   A silly phrase like that just sticks.   When I do forget a phrase after a while, it's quick to refresh it.

Student's name    Marius	Telephone number      4 0 2 2 6 0 2 8	Silly words that I remember / how the sounds are mentally spelled as numbers   resigning "chaw" (snuff) /  r=4, s=0, n=2, ng=2, ch=6, s=0, n=2, ff=8
Truls Vo.	4 1 5 1 9 1 8 0	he hurtled by thieves /  r=4, t=1, l=5, d=1, b=9, th=1, v=8, s=0
Nils	7 2 5 8 2 6 2 6	a king leaving change /  k=7, ng=2, l=5, v=8, ng=2, ch=6, n=2, g=6
Øyvin T.	7 3 5 2 3 1 2 5	camel in methanol  /  c=7, m=3, l=5, n=2, m=3, th=1, n=2, l=5
James	7 3 8 8 9 0 2 6	comfy VIP snowshoe  /  c=7, m=3, f=8, V=8, P=9, s=0, n=2, sh=6
Jarle	7 3 9 6 8 4 4 9	combi chauffeur-rabbi  /  c=7, m=3, b=9, ch=6, ff=8, r=4, r=4, bb=9
Halvor	9 0 0 6 4 6 2 1	hippo-sausage rationed  /  p=9, s=0, s=0, g=6, r=4, t=6, n=2, d=1
Joakim	9 0 5 8 5 6 5 2	puzzle a foolish alien  /  p=9, zz=0, l=5, f=8, l=5, sh=6, l=5, n=2
Geir	9 0 6 0 5 0 4 1	whips a witch’s lizard  /  p=9, s=0, tch=6, s=0, l=5, z=0, r=4, d=1
Bjørnar	9 0 6 0 9 2 1 7	passageway is hypnotic  /  p=9, ss=0, g=6, s=0, p=9, n=2, t=1, c=7
Peter	9 1 1 6 2 4 6 7	beheaded a junior sheik
Tommy	9 1 8 8 4 2 6 8	beautify a foreign Chevy  /  Learn to mentally spell these yourself!
Karl	9 2 0 3 9 4 5 2	happiness imperiling
Mattis	9 2 2 3 6 2 1 8	banana-machine thief
Terje	9 2 2 6 0 8 9 6	banana juice – half a peach
Kari Charlotte	9 2 6 9 6 6 0 1	banish beige schist!
Gisle	9 2 8 3 4 8 4 5	penknife-hammer overhaul
Armin	9 3 0 5 1 5 8 1	buy a missile telephoto
Mari	9 3 2 1 0 9 7 6	payments package
Bjørn	9 5 1 3 1 3 9 8	bloody-medium beef
Eystein	9 5 2 0 8 1 1 5	balance a fat dowel
Arne	9 5 2 4 4 5 1 3	billionaire royal-team
Knut Magne	9 5 7 0 0 8 5 7	pillowcases flag
Truls Va.	9 5 7 0 3 7 7 9	blue cosmic cop
Øyvind	9 5 7 2 7 9 8 0	plugging gooey beehives
Lasse	9 5 9 7 4 3 9 3	play poker – womp'em!
Kari	9 7 0 2 4 6 0 6	boxing orgies – "ouch!"
Oddvar	9 7 5 9 5 4 7 0	bagel bulwarks
Audun	9 7 6 7 0 7 2 7	poke a shaggy skunk
Ole Johan	9 7 6 8 0 8 7 2	pig shoves a viking
Lars	9 7 7 5 1 7 4 7	bigwig wealthy crook
Sarra	9 8 0 3 3 4 3 0	obvious mummy arms
Knut R	9 8 4 3 8 9 5 9	befree a mafia playboy
Julianne	9 8 8 8 1 0 2 0	wipe off fifty signs
Musab	9 9 5 9 2 4 1 3	Pueblo piano rythem
Helene	9 9 6 0 2 7 8 3	baby chews on yucky foam
Anne	9 9 6 1 3 0 1 1	buy a budget homestead
Magne Y.	9 9 6 2 8 2 1 4	babyish inventor
Kathrine	9 9 6 9 1 7 7 6	puppy-sheepdog coach
Hilde	9 9 6 9 6 8 7 0	buy a bushy-bushy fox

The Statue of Liberty
212 363 3200  "Undying image whom humanizes" (The lady is this undying image.)

Empire State Building
212 736 3100  "Haunting calmish madhouses" (This building is spooky at night.)

Metropolitan Museum of Art
212 879 5500   "Hunting fake blue laces" (A search is going on at the Met)

My cellular telephone
918 97197    "Beautify a pocketbook"  (Improve the looks of my pocketbook by putting money in it.)

Norwegian Automobile Association (NAF) emergency number
810 00 505     "Futz ceaselessly" (The NAF serviceman spends all day futzing with disabled cars)
or  "Heavy tows ceaselessly"  (The NAF serviceman tows heavy disabled cars)  or "Heave autos ceaselessly"

Bank-service phone (SparebankenNOR):
815 00 200    "Avoid losses an’ uses" (Keep your money in the bank and you can't lose it or use it)

Trondheim university exam result telephone for students:
815 48 014    "Fatally aware faster" (Students get the bad news quickly here.)

Trondheim hospital/ambulance:
73522500   "Chameleon analyses"  (I imagine a chameleon being analyzed at the hospital.)

Trondheim Taxi
73505073   "Come always, all I ask'em"

Police Department
73899090   "Whack'em half up, busy boys!" (Norwegian police are not really brutal, and don't even carry guns.)

Trondheims infamous toll-road authority
73824800   "A gamy Finn refuses" or  "A commie Finn refuses"  (A tourist from Finland refuses to pay the selv-service toll in Trondheim and drives through).

US Passport office, Norway
22448550    "Any unwary arrive lawless" (It's illegal to arrive in Norway without a valid passport, and ignorance is no excuse.)

Gemini's editor
73595321  "Come help illuminate" (The magazine Gemini  "illuminates" research at the university in Trondheim).