# Knuckle mnemonic > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Knuckle_mnemonic > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Knuckle_mnemonic.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knuckle_mnemonic > Source revision: 1311813884 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Mnemonic for the number of days in each month}} thumb|upright=1.3|class=notheme|The two-handed knuckle mnemonic The '''knuckle mnemonic''' is a [mnemonic](/source/mnemonic) device for remembering the number of days in the months of the [Julian](/source/Julian_calendar) and [Gregorian calendar](/source/Gregorian_calendar)s. ==Methods== ===One-handed=== One form of the mnemonic is done by counting on the [knuckle](/source/knuckle)s of one's hand to remember the number of days in each month. {{cite book |title=The Museum of Science and Art |volume=5 |editor1-last=Lardner |editor1-first=Dionysius |editor1-link= Dionysius Lardner|year=1855 |publisher=Walton and Maberly |url=https://archive.org/details/museumofsciencea05lardrich/page/152 |location=London |quote=When we close the hand there are four projecting knuckles of the four fingers, with depressions between them. If we give the knuckles and intermediate depressions the names of the successive months, recommencing from the first knuckle, after having once gone over them, we shall find that the months of thirty-one days are those which fall upon the knuckles. Also, in easier words, the gaps between the knuckles indicate months with not 31 days but 30 (excluding February which is 28/29). |page=152}} Knuckles are counted as 31 days, depressions between knuckles as fewer, be that 30 or the 28/29 days of February. One starts with the [little finger](/source/little_finger) knuckle as January, and one finger or depression at a time is counted towards the [index finger](/source/index_finger) knuckle (July), saying the months while doing so. One then returns to the little finger knuckle (now August) and continues for the remaining months. One variant of this approach differs after reaching the index finger knuckle (July): instead of wrapping around back to the little finger, some people reverse direction and continue from the index finger knuckle (counting it for both July and August) and ending on the [ring finger](/source/ring_finger) knuckle. ===Two-handed=== Others use two hands: starting with the little finger knuckle of the left hand, proceeding to the left index finger knuckle, then (swapping hands) jump to the right fist's index finger knuckle for August, finishing on the knuckle of the right ring finger. ==See also== *[Finger counting](/source/Finger_counting) * "[Thirty Days Hath September](/source/Thirty_Days_Hath_September)..." ==References== {{reflist}} Category:Fingers Category:Mnemonics Category:Calendars --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Knuckle mnemonic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knuckle_mnemonic) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knuckle_mnemonic?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.