Perhaps committing the periodic table to memory isn't everybody's cup of tea, but it occasionally spares a bit of embarrassment if someone asks whether polonium is a pnictogen or a tetrel. It's good to be sure that it's neither.

One mnemonic I quite like is - Bored Alien Gave Indians Telepathy - for the triels. 

Some are a bit clumsier - (Actually,) Thorin's Pack Used Napalm. Plucky Amy Came Back. Coffee Estate Farm Made No Lard. - for the Actinides.

Anyone care to share their own versions, or do we no longer need rote learning now we have the internet?

Fat cows bend in angles.
The one I learned for the lanthanides would no longer be considered acceptable in polite conversation.
Incidentally, "tetrel" is a new one for me. When was that coined?
That means we have the noble gases, the alkali metals, the halogens, the alkaline earths, the chalcogens, the pnictogens , the tetrels and "the boron group"

The trivalent ones need better PR.

Edited July 13, 20232 yr by John Cuthber

29 minutes ago, John Cuthber said:

Fat cows bend in angles.

Not being a chemist, I have the less poetic Fox Claws Brummie In Attack for the halogens to remind me of the correct symbols. 

33 minutes ago, John Cuthber said:

The one I learned for the lanthanides would no longer be considered acceptable in polite conversation.

I've one or two of those also. 

35 minutes ago, John Cuthber said:

Incidentally, "tetrel" is a new one for me. When was that coined?

No idea. All I know is that I'm not supposed to call it Group IVB any more. Tetrel says 'carbon' to me more than Group 14, which I believe is the current IUPAC preference.