Mnemonic

Mnemonic

A mnemonic , or mnemonic device, is any learning technique that aids memory. To improve long term memory, mnemonic systems are used to make memorization easier. Commonly encountered mnemonics are often verbal, such as a very short poem or a special word used to help a person remember something,...

s are used to help memorise the electronic color code

Electronic color code

The electronic color code is used to indicate the values or ratings of electronic components, very commonly for resistors, but also for capacitors, inductors, and others...

s of electronic components such as resistor

Resistor

A linear resistor is a linear, passive two-terminal electrical component that implements electrical resistance as a circuit element.The current through a resistor is in direct proportion to the voltage across the resistor's terminals. Thus, the ratio of the voltage applied across a resistor's...

s.

The first letter of the color code is matched by order of increasing magnitude

Magnitude (mathematics)

The magnitude of an object in mathematics is its size: a property by which it can be compared as larger or smaller than other objects of the same kind; in technical terms, an ordering of the class of objects to which it belongs....

.

• Bad boys run our young girls behind victory garden walls.
• Bad boys rape our young girls but Violet gives willingly. (Get Some Now (refers to the tolerance bands Gold, Silver or None))

• Big boys race our young girls but Violet generally wins.

Since B can stand for both "black" and "brown", variations are formed such as "Black boys rape our young girls...". Though most forms of the mnemonics include bad, boy and but in that order in which the second letter provides for the disambiguation:

• bad → black
• boys → brown
• but → blue

Humorous, offensive, or sexual mnemonics are more memorable (see mnemonic), but these variations are often considered inappropriate for classrooms, and have been implicated as a sign of sexism in science and engineering

Women in science

Women have made contributions and sacrifices to science from the earliest times. Like many men in science, women have received little or no distinction for their work during their lifetimes. Science is generally and historically a male-dominated field, and evidence suggests that this is due to...

 classes. Dr. Latanya Sweeney, associate professor of computer science

Computer science

Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...

 at Carnegie Mellon, a black woman, mentions the mnemonic ("black boys rape only young girls but Violet gives willingly") as one of the reasons she felt alienated and eventually dropped out of MIT in the 1980s to form her own software company.

A teacher in the UK was remprimanded by the General Teaching Council for alluding to and partial use of a racist and sexist version of this mnemonic in 2011 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-12584669

A politically-correct mnemonic that has attained some traction in recent years is:

• Big brown rabbits often yield great big vocal groans when gingerly slapped.

Mnemonics that are easy to remember and also cater for ambiguity:

• Blame Brian's Ridiculous Oversight! Yellow Grease Bluntly Violates Grapes Whiteness!
• Bak BRO, Yeah Greasy Blubber's Very Grabable, Why?
• Better Be Right Or Your Great Big Venture Goes West

Another mnemonic that is not offensive and used in south Indian classroom is:

• B.B. ROY of Great Britain has Very Good Wife.

Other mnemonics commonly taught in UK engineering courses include:

• Bye Bye Rosie Off You Go Birmingham
  Birmingham
  Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
  
   Via Great Western
  Great Western Railway
  The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
  
  
• Bye Bye Rosie Off You Go Bristol
  Bristol
  Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
  
  Via Great Western
• Bye Bye Rosie Off You Go do Become a Very Good Wife

• Bill Brown Realized Only Yesterday Good Boys Value Good Work

• In India, another mnemonic is also popular:

BB ROY of Great Britain has a Very Good Wife

Here

• BB refers to Black, Brown.
• ROY refers to Red, Orange and Yellow.
• Great Britain refers to Green and Blue.
• Very Good Wife refers to Violet, Grey & White.