French Mnemonic Device
Explanation
A French memory aid is that the First Quarter Moon phase looks like a "p," and the Last Quarter Moon looks like a "d." In this memory aid, p and d actually stand for what you see: "premier" or "dernier."
- "Premier" is French for first, so it would be the first quarter.
- "Dernier" is French for last, which makes it the last quarter.
When looking at the moon, try to see if you can make out the letter p or d.
The complete circle of the 8 phases of the moon is:
- Phase one: New Moon
- Phase two: Waxing Crescent Moon
- Phase three: First Quarter Moon
- Phase four: Waxing Gibbous Moon
- Phase five: Full Moon
- Phase six: Waning Gibbous Moon
- Phase seven: Last Quarter Moon
- Phase eight: Waning Crescent Moon
While DOC only covers the quarter and full phases, "Naughty Whales Flap When Fish Want Little Waves" covers all eight. Take the first letter of each word: N-W-F-W-F-W-L-W, standing for New Moon, Waxing crescent, First quarter, Waxing gibbous, Full moon, Waning gibbous, Last quarter, Waning crescent.
Read more on Wikipedia See the actual moon phase fullscreen
Variation
- DOC, "Dog comes in (the room), Cat goes out"
- Light Left, Last Quarter
- ‘b for birth phase or b for birth', ‘d for death phase’