Difference between revisions of "2487: Danger Mnemonic"

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[Blond haired adult talking to two children]
 
[Blond haired adult talking to two children]
  
: [Adult]: Now, Remember:
+
: [Adult]: Now, remember:
  
 
: If red touches yellow  
 
: If red touches yellow  
: amid leaves of three  
+
: amid leaves of three under
: under a red sky at morning,  
+
: a red sky at morning,  
 
: you should probably  
 
: you should probably  
 
: just get out of there.
 
: just get out of there.

Revision as of 04:54, 10 July 2021

Danger Mnemonic
It's definitely not the time to try drinking beer before liquor.
Title text: It's definitely not the time to try drinking beer before liquor.

Explanation

Ambox notice.png This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: Created by a DRUNKEN SAILOR'S POISON IVY SNAKE. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.
If you can address this issue, please edit the page! Thanks.

This is a mash-up of three different common sayings: "red touches yellow, dead fellow. Red touches black, happy Jack," "leaves of three, leave them be," and "red sky at morning, sailors take warning. Red sky at night, sailor's delight."

The adult refers to three different sayings that remind people how to recognize dangerous things or situations. If all are true at once, then things must be especially bad. The sayings are:

  • Red touches yellow, kills a fellow. This is a saying for how to recognize a venomous coral snake, which has red, black, and yellow stripes, which the red and yellow stripes adjacent. A nonvenomous king snake also has red, black, and yellow stripes, but the black stripes separate the red and yellow ones.
  • Leaves of three, leave them be is used to identify poison ivy from its many lookalikes, such as the Virginia creeper in https://xkcd.com/443/.
  • Red sky at morning, sailor take warning. Red sky at night, sailor's delight. The mnemonic predicts bad/good weather conditions based on a particularly red sunrise/sunset. It is predictive at middle latitudes where the prevailing winds go from west to east. Regions of higher air pressure will cause a particularly red sky at sunrise/sunset, so a red sky in the evening indicates a high pressure system is coming in from the west with its calmer weather, while a red sky in the morning indicates a low pressure front coming in (usually with rain/rougher weather).

The title text refers to the myth of Beer before liquor, never been sicker; liquor before beer, you're in the clear. Unlike the first three mnemonics which are genuinely useful for avoiding danger, this one does not have any truth behind it - unless the order affects how much you drink.

Transcript

[Blond haired adult talking to two children]

[Adult]: Now, remember:
If red touches yellow
amid leaves of three under
a red sky at morning,
you should probably
just get out of there.