Mortuary Mnemonics

One letter. Two different ways to hold moisture!

ADsorb = ADheres to the surface.
Think of the D in aDsorb and a Desiccant like silica gel.

ABsorb = Brings it in.
Think of a sponge taking water into its material.

Stick around or come inside? That’s your latest Mortuary Mnemonics memory cue! 🎙️

Stay curious and keep learning.

🕖 Coffee at 7. 🕛 Tea at 12. 🕔 Liquor at 5.

Remember your vertebrae with Spine O’Clock: 7 cervical, 12 thoracic, 5 lumbar. The time gives you the number; the drink gives you the letter. ☕🫖🥃

Remember algor mortis by connecting it to Al Gore and An Inconvenient Truth. This quick mnemonic helps you recall how the body acclimates to the ambient temperature after death.

Dendrites draw information in, while axons carry nerve impulses away from the cell body. Use the simple mnemonic “Dendrites Draw In; Axons Away” to remember the direction of neuronal communication for your anatomy exams and National Board preparation.

Differentiate between Biological Vectors and Mechanical Vectors with ease.

Podcast Title: HONC – The Shortcut to Bonding Patterns

In embalming chemistry, we only need to know severalelements and how they interact with each other. For example, how they will bond with one another. If you’ve ever looked at a chemical structureand thought, how many bonds should this atom make? There’s a simple mnemonic that can guide youevery time: HONC.

H-O-N-C.

Each letter represents a common element and the number ofbonds it typically forms.

H is 1.
O is 2.
N is 3.
C is 4.

That’s it.

This comes from the idea of valence electrons, butyou don’t need to get lost in the theory. What matters for us is recognizingpredictable bonding patterns.

Hydrogen wants one bond. It’s stable when it shares oneelectron.

Oxygen typically forms two bonds.

Nitrogen forms three bonds.

And carbon forms four bonds. This is why carbon is thebackbone of organic chemistry, it can build complex, stable structures.

So when you’re visualizing molecules or thinking about howchemicals interact, HONC gives you a quick mental check.

If something looks off—too many or too few bonds—you’llcatch it.

In fields like embalming chemistry, where we’re dealing withreactive molecules like formaldehyde, understanding these bonding patternshelps explain how crosslinking happens and why preservation works the way itdoes.

So remember:

HONC.
1, 2, 3, 4.

When you think gout, think TOE, because that’s where it loves to start. The big toe joint, or first metatarsophalangeal joint, is the classic site for that sharp, fiery pain that wakes people at night.

Now add TOPHI spelled T-O-P-H-I those are the chalky white deposits that form when uric acid crystals build up over time. Think of them as little mountains of urate that appear on ears, elbows, or even fingers.

So remember: TOE for the first attack, TOPHI for the chronic stage.
Gout begins in the toe and ends with tophi. It's a simple way to recall the progression from acute inflammation to long-term crystal buildup.

That’s your minute mnemonic — TOE and TOPHI — from acute pain to chronic deposit.”

“ABCs of the Aortic Arch.”

A is for Aortic Arch – the main curve of theaorta.
From there, the branches go in this order:
B – Brachiocephalic artery
C – Left Common carotid artery
S – Left Subclavian artery

Think: A – B – C – S.

Quick tip: the brachiocephalic only comes off the rightside—so it later splits into the right subclavian and right commoncarotid. The left side gets its own direct branches.

Rigor mortis, the stiffening of muscles after death due to fluctuation in ATP levels. Rigor mortis can make it challenging to position a body for preparation. But don’t worry—our mnemonic, F.E.R.M., makes the process straightforward and easy to remember. Let’s break it down:

F is for Flex.
Start by gently flexing the joints. For example, bend the arms at the elbows or the legs at the knees. The goal here is to loosen up the major joints without applying excessive force.

E is for Extend.
Once the joint has some flexibility, extend it slowly. Straighten out the limbs to encourage the muscle fibers to relax further.

R is for Rotate.
Now, rotate the joints gently. This helps stretch out the muscles and break down the stiffness even more. Think of this as a circular motion—nothing sharp or sudden.

M is for Manipulate.
Finally, manipulate the muscles by massaging or pressing along the limbs. This final step can release any remaining tension, ensuring the body is ready for proper positioning.
Remember, the key is to take your time and use a respectful, measured approach. Flex, Extend, Rotate, and Manipulate—F.E.R.M.—it’s simple, effective, and dignified.

Phocomelia s a congenital condition that involves malformations of human arms and legs that is most often described as having flipper-like appendages. However, it can manifest in other regions of the body resulting in shortened neck, abnormalities in the urethra, and hydrocephalus.

A cause of phocomelia is the mother being prescribed certain chemicals during pregnancy. However, the causes of most cases are idiopathic.

For the purposes of mortuary school, phocomelia is described as a condition in which the proximal portions of the limbs are poorly developed or missing.

As with many medical terms, phocomelia can be broken apart into smaller words. Here melia refers to a condition of the limbs. Melos is Greek for limb. I suggest keeping this one in the memory banks as it will come up in the future. Today we will focus on Phoco. Phoco is derived from phoca. Phoca is a genus of seals. For our purposes let’s simply commit to Phoco means seal. If you think of a seal you will recall these cute aquatic creatures do not have arms, only flippers for upper extremities. This is the description of phocomelia. Distal portions only, no proximal portions. Think seals! Also, I apologize for the flagrant use of the phoco during this podcast.

Hemoptysis

Here’s a mnemonic that I overheard in class one day.

It’s for the word Hemoptysis.

Hemoptysis is the coughing up or spitting of blood from one’s lungs. It can be a sign of a serious medical condition. It can be caused by infections such as tuberculosis, cancer, and problems in blood vessels in the lungs.

In my class hemoptysis is introduced with several other terms that are new but have similar meaning, epistaxis, melena and others. This creates a perfect occasion for a good mnemonic.

Here is the one that I heard: When you say hem-pt-ysis you can put an emphasis on the “pt” sound and create a sound that is similar to a “spitting” sound. Of course, spitting often includes involves sputum so the correlation is solid.

I hope this helps you manage some of the pathology terms to get you through the boards.

Here’s a quick mnemonic. It’s one of those anatomical directional terms. These are important for communicating with other professionals as they help to remove ambiguity.

Today’s term is supination, the rotation of the forearm and hand so that the palm faces forward or upward.

The mnemonic is Soupination. Imagine holding a bowl of soup in the palm of your hand. I suggest a gazpacho because it’s a not too hot to hold. To do this your hand would be in the supine position with the palm facing up.

Easy! Credit for this mortuary mnemonic goes to Ben.

As you are most certainly aware, one of the goals of embalming is temporary preservation. This accomplished is in part by stabilizing proteins. Without getting into the chemical pathways this stabilization can be achieved through the neutralization of enzymatic proteins that will digest other proteins. In regard to neutralization of enzymes it’s sort of a two birds one stone effect, stabilize and neutralize a protein all at once. Enzymes are regulated in a multitude of ways. This is a great launching off point for our mnemonic for proenzymes.

Proenzymes are the precursors of enzymes, a change is required to activate them. In a biological system it’s sometimes more effective, quicker really, to have enzymes ready to go but not active than it is to synthesize them on the fly. Usually, activation occurs by hydrolysis of an inhibiting fragment that masks an active site. Examples of proenzymes are pepsinogen and trypsinogen. These are digestive enzymes that we don’t want to be active when there is no food to digest in our stomach but can be quickly activated when needed. In my mind proenzymes are like a wheel lock that immobilizes a car. The car can’t move with it on but functions fine when the lock is off.

I think of proenzymes as “pre”enzymzes. The mnemonic for the day is the pro/pre swap for proenzymes.

Imagine if these enzymes were perpetually active and unregulated! We’d digest ourselves!! Its much safer to have them in the “PROcursor” form.

Tendons and ligaments are confusing. Do tendons connect bone to muscle? Muscle to muscle? Do ligaments connect bone to muscle?

Okay so here is where I lean into structures that I am confident about. Those structures that I’ve been familiar with for years, even before my first anatomy class.

A tendon is defined as a flexible but inelastic cord of strong fibrous collagen tissue attaching muscle to bone.

A ligament is defined as a short band of tough, flexible fibrous connective tissue which connects two bones or cartilage or holds a joint in position.

Often confused.

Tendons first

Arguably the most famous tendon in the body is the Achilles tendon. It connects the heel bone to the muscles of the foreleg. Specifically, it connects the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles in the calf to an insertion point at the calcaneus. The Achilles tendon connects muscle to bone.

Now ligaments

All embalmers are familiar with the Inguinal ligament. It’s discussed in the guide for the femoral artery. It’s the ligament that attaches the anterior spine of the iliac to the pubic tubercle. The inguinal ligament connects bone to bone.

Let’s take a moment to talk about amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. Embalming can, in part, be defined as the use of chemicals to stabilize proteins. That being said, the reaction between embalming chemicals and proteins really occurs at the amino acids level.

There are over 500 amino acids that exist in nature. Of that there are about 20 that are necessary for human life. The number is debatable but for our purposes let’s assume the magic number is 20. Of these 20, there are two groups. Some of these amino acids are produced through metabolism and others we don’t produce. We must get them through food stuff.

An amino acid produced by our body is referred to as non-essential.

If we have to obtain from food, because we can’t synthesize them, they are called essential.

And here is our mnemonic.

Of the twenty amino acids, 12 are made by our cells! The rest are obtained by eating food. Some simple arithmetic (20-12) gives us that the remaining number of amino acids is eight.

The number of essential amino acids is eight, and you eat them to get them.

You ate the eight.

Pathology has a lot of vocabulary that sounds very similar. For example, hypertrophy, hyperplasia and aplasia. These similar sounding words can get confusing. Knowing the pre-fix, suffix, and root words can be helpful in times like these. But sometimes there is a mnemonic in there that can help alleviate stress.

Let’s take a look at Hypertrophy and hyperplasia. Hypertrophy is the enlargement of an organ or tissue from the increase in the size of its CELLS. An example of this would be the result of working out to increase muscle size. Conversely, hyperplasia is an increase in a tissue or organ caused by an increase in the reproduction rate of its cells. This is observed in cancer.

So here’s the mnemonic and it helps with two vocabulary words, hypertrophy and hyperplasia. Within the word Hypertrophy, is the word trophy. Everyone prefers one large trophy, not a bunch of small ones. So when you see the word hypertrophy, think of one large trophy and you’ll be reminded about large cells versus an increase in the number of cells as tissues become enlarged.

Hopefully this mnemonic helps you get through some pathology.

Today’s mnemonic covers a casket part. It’s helpful if you are familiar with some romance languages.

So, there are a lot of casket parts that you get to be familiar with, the gimp, the ogee and others. Some are easy to remember, others are not. Additionally, many of them have synonyms. This makes it even more challenging to manage all these terms.

One of the casket components that has multiple synonyms is the Lug. It’s that part of the casket handle that is attached to the casket body. The lug is also known as the ear, likely based on the fact that simple lugs have a shape that is similar to a human ear.

And here is the mnemonic for the day. The third synonymous term for lug. Its “Escutcheon.” It’s kind of a strange word. But if are familiar with Spanish you may know that escúchame means listen to me. It’s derived from escuchar meaning to hear. The words escúchame and escutcheon are clearly related. So, if you are familiar with escúchame then you will remember escutcheon also means ear or lug!

Dr. Richard Burr was a civil war embalmer. You’re probably familiar with the photograph of him at his tent embalming with no PPE. We credit him with being the impetus of the establishment of rules for embalmers and undertakers. This is because he was allegedly burning down the embalming tents of his competitors.

His last name Burr, sounds a lot like “burn”, making it easy to recall his role in funeral history.

The diaphragm is a dome shaped muscular partition between the
thorax and the abdomen in mammals. It
has a functional role in breathing. Like
all muscles the diaphragm requires a supply of oxygenated blood. The arteries that supply the diaphragm with oxygen
are the phrenic arteries.
There are superior and inferior phrenic arteries. The superior
supplies the superior aspect of the diaphragm and the inferior supply the
abdominal aspect of the diaphragm.
I know anatomy is a huge subject and there seems to be a lot
of memorization but here’s a handy tip for remembering the phrenic arteries and
the diaphragm.
They both have “ph” in them creating the “fa” sound. You don’t see “ph” too often in anatomical
structures. Phrenic arteries and
diaphragm are two of them.

Erythrocytopenia, leukocytopenia, leukopenia, osteopenia these are some of the terms you will come across in your Funeral Service Pathology class. I think it’s a good idea to study the prefixes and suffixes of medical terms as they tend to repeat themselves.

Here we see penia as in cytopenia, leukopenia. Penia was the Greek Goddess of Poverty. Her role was to teach humans to be productive and humble.

To me the Penia sounds a lot like penny so it’s an easy connection.

Therefore, anything-penia is a deficiency in something. Here’s an example Erythrocytopenia, Erythrocyte is a red blood cell add penia to that and you have a deficiency of red blood cells.