Peg words—remember lists and numbers#

Peg words help you remember numbered and list-type data. You learn a set of words that each stand for a number, then you “hang” the thing you want to remember on the matching word using a vivid association. To recall an item later, you bring back the peg word and the picture you attached to it comes with it.

Peg words suit a particular kind of material—ordered or numbered lists, and arbitrary strings of digits:

• Numbered or ordered lists
• PIN numbers and short passwords
• Specifications you need in sequence
• Assertion or checklist items
• And similar “remember these, in this order” jobs

I’ll be straight with you about where this sits. For getting a list back in order, structured mnemonics like the peg system reliably beat plain rote repetition—that result has held up in the research for decades. What they’re not is a shortcut to understanding. A peg list helps you reel off the items; it does little to help you grasp how those items relate or apply them to a new problem. So treat peg words as a precision tool for the narrow job of ordered recall, not a general-purpose study method. Used that way, they earn their place. They do take some practice, and they feel clumsy at first. Push past that and you have a dependable way to fix lists and numbers in memory.

What are peg words?#

Peg words represent numbers. Each peg word is built from the sounds of the digits in its number. Here are those sounds:

Say the sounds for each number and you’ll notice the ones grouped together are formed in a similar way in your mouth, which makes the table easier to learn than it first looks.

Vowels (a, e, i, o, and u) and the remaining letters (h, w, and y) do not represent any number. They just help us build the peg words.

From these sounds, you choose a word for each number. Usually the words are nouns or objects, as these are easier to picture and to associate with other items. The peg words I use for zero to nine are:

You could pick any word with the ’t’ or ’d’ sound for ‘1.’ It just helps if exactly one object represents each number, so there’s no hesitation when you reach for it.

Using peg words for lists#

Here’s one use. To remember a list of ten items, you associate each item with one of the peg words. Using the association approach from the appendix, you’d work as follows, starting at number 1:

1. Pencil. Associate Tie (the peg word for 1) with Pencil. See a large tie walking around wearing its own tie. It’s a pencil tie.

2. Microwave. See Noah (peg word for 2) on the Ark cooking a hot meal in a Microwave.

3. Lamp. See your mother (Ma, peg word for 3) sitting in the corner of a room with a lampshade on her head and her hand in the power socket.

4. Chair. Look up and feel a ray (peg word for 4) of light coming from the sun. Then a chair hits you on the head. Where did that come from?

5. … and so on

To recall the list, start at number 1. The peg word for 1 is Tie, and your association triggers that “Pencil” is the first item. For 2, you recall Noah, and the picture of him getting dinner out of the Microwave comes back.

Peg words have two advantages over a simple “linked list.” First, if you have a linked list of ten items and you blank on item five, it’s hard to carry on through the rest. Peg words don’t have that problem—forget number five and you just move on to six. Second, you can jump to any item by its number. Asked what item seven was in a linked list, you’d have to start at one and count along. With peg words you recall the peg for seven, and its association.

Using peg words to remember numbers#

You can also use peg words for long numbers. If your credit card has a numerical password of 384957, here’s one way to remember it.

1. Break the number into two-digit groups: 38, 49 and 57. Starting at 38, the digits are 3 and 8. The sound for 3 is m, and for 8 is f or v. What word has just the sounds m and f/v in it? Move? Mouth? Movie? Hold those. Now 49: the sounds are r for 4 and p/b for 9. Rope? Robe? Rub? Lastly 57: the sounds are l for 5 and k/c/g for 7. Leg? Lock? Lug?

Software that can help you learn peg words includes:

• Total Recall
• SuperMemo (enter your own words)

2. Now link one word from each group together. You could use a linked list and join Mouth (38), Robe (49) and Leg (57). Or make a little scene from them—for example, a “Movie about a Rope Lock.”

3. Next time you’re at the cash machine, imagine you’re getting money out to go and see a Movie about a Rope Lock. This Rope Lock was feeling upset because all the metal locks were stronger, but in the end it saved the day (somehow).

So for numbers above nine you can build peg words from the sound of each digit. To reinforce:

• You build a peg word for 10 from the sounds of its two digits. For 1 it’s ’t’ or ’d’; for 0 it’s ’s’. So toes or dice could be your peg for 10.

• You build a peg word for 91 from ‘b’ or ‘p’ (for 9) and ’t’ or ’d’ (for 1). Bat, pad, pod, bid, pit, boat or peat could all stand for 91.

Break longer numbers into two- or three-digit groups, find peg words for each group, then link them to remember the whole.

Here’s a telephone-number example. As before, split the number into groups of two or three digits, make a peg word for each, then link them. Your friend Peter’s number might be 613-945-4969. You could represent it with chain-ma-pearl-rope-ship, and picture Peter tying a big chain around his ma, which crushes her pearls. She starts yelling at Peter, and he gets upset. He ties an even bigger rope to the pearls, and the other end to a big ship leaving the harbour. In the couple of minutes it took to build that scene, Peter’s number is committed to memory.

Peg words for numbers ten onwards#

You’ve seen you can use the basic zero-to-nine pegs in several ways. What about lists longer than ten items? And doesn’t it seem slow to work out a fresh word every time you meet a longer number?

You could invent a word each time you need one past ten, but other people have already done the work. There are predefined peg words for ten to one hundred. Here are ten to twenty:

I’ve included a full set for twenty to one hundred in the box further down the page.

Learning more of the standard pegs lets you use the system faster. I reckon knowing the peg words for one to one hundred is a good standard to aim for—it gives you plenty of range without having to invent a word each time. That said, you don’t have to memorise the larger numbers to benefit. You can simply refer to the list when you need a peg. Once you’ve made the association, recalling the number is easy: think of the individual sounds and read the number back off them.

Tips for using peg words#

Three tips:

• Use tangible things or objects for each peg word. Objects are easier to attach other items to than abstract words.

• Don’t use similar peg words for different numbers. Near-duplicates are where mix-ups creep in.

• Keep a small reference of the full list close by—in your wallet or purse, say—so you’re never stuck.

A party trick, with an important point#

The “Total Recall” software includes ideas for using peg words to improve your card game, along with some party tricks worth trying.

One of those tricks also teaches an extra technique you can use with peg words. Look at the trick first. Try it with a friend once you’ve learned more than ten pegs:

1. Have them write down the numbers from one up to the highest number you can comfortably peg. If you know one to twenty, have them write one to twenty.

2. Have them circle a few of the numbers, without you seeing.

3. Have them read out the uncircled numbers in random order, crossing each off as they go.

4. They continue until only the circled numbers remain.

Peg Words 21 to 100

If you’re keen, see if you can memorise this whole list. If you’re not so keen, try the first twenty or forty and make up your own for the rest as you need them. No-one says you have to use RoPe for 49—you could use RoBe. You’ll also notice different authors use different words. The main advantage of using a word you already know is that it takes less time to recall.

21. Net	22. Nun	23. Gnome	24. Nero	25. Nail
26. Notch	27. Neck	28. Knife	29. Knob	30. Mouse
31. Mat	32. Moon	33. Mummy	34. Mower	35. Mole
36. Match	37. Mug	38. Movie	39. Map	40. Rose
41. Rat	42. Rain	43. Ram	44. Roar	45. Reel
46. Rash	47. Rock	48. Roof	49. Rope	50. Lace
51. Lad	52. Lane	53. Lamb	54. Lair	55. Lolly
56. Leech	57. Leg	58. Loaf	59. Lip	60. Cheese
61. Sheet	62. Chain	63. Jam	64. Jar	65. Jail
66. Judge	67. Shack	68. Chef	69. Ship	70. Goose
71. Cat	72. Coin	73. Comb	74. Car	75. Coal
76. Cage	77. Cake	78. Cave	79. Cab	80. Vase
81. Fat	82. Phone	83. Foam	84. Fire	85. File
86. Fish	87. Fog	88. Fife	89. Fob	90. Bus
91. Bat	92. Bone	93. Bomb	94. Bar	95. Ball
96. Beach	97. Pig	98. Puff	99. Pipe	100. Daisies

5. When they finish, you read back the numbers they circled.

Here’s how. As they read out each number, destroy the image of that peg word in your mind. If the number was 6, picture ripping a shoe into tiny shreds. If it was 10, picture obliterating a toe (with blood going everywhere). When they’ve finished, start from one and run through each peg word. The pegs you didn’t destroy stand out—those are the numbers they circled.

The trick is more impressive the larger your set of pegs, but it’s a nice way to prove to yourself the system is doing real work.

The extra technique to take from this is destroying peg words. When you no longer need a peg for a particular association, “destroy” it. It’s a simple way to tell yourself you’ve finished with that slot and free it for reuse.

The takeaway#

Peg words are a specialist tool, and worth keeping in your kit for what they do well: fixing ordered lists and arbitrary numbers in memory, where they comfortably beat plain repetition. Just hold a realistic expectation. The benefit is real but narrow—great for what and in what order, not for why or how it fits together. Build a solid set of pegs, lean on vivid associations, and reach for the system when the job is genuinely “remember these, in sequence.”