People ANYONE could use to fill in gaps in their PAO

#1

I had the thought a while ago of creating a generic PAO list with items that would be familiar for anyone (I’m guessing that a lot of the personalities on my actual PAO list would not be familiar to a good proportion of people).

I’m far off a hundred Ps but hopefully by posting here these may be useful for gaps in other people’s PAO’s, or perhaps people can add to this list with their own similar suggestions to make it more useful.

So, we have “generic” Ps that nonetheless should already be associated with a memorable image in anyone’s mind:

Angel
Astronaut
Ballerina
Bishop
Chef
Cowboy
Demon
Diver (Scuba)
Dwarf
Eskimo
Fairy
Fireman
Giant
Indian (Apache)
Judge
Knight
Miner
Mummy (Egyptian)
Ninja
Nurse
Pirate
Policeman
Samurai
Werewolf
Witch (Fairytale)
Wizard

And we have some fictional characters that are so famous, I believe anyone should be familiar with and have an image of them already:

Batman
Count Dracula
King Arthur
Mickey Mouse
Rapunzel
Red Riding Hood
Robin Hood
Ronald McDonald
Santa Claus
Sherlock Holmes
Spiderman
Superman
Tarzan

(I’m confident that all of those are near-universally known, but couldn’t think of others I was sure were so ubiquitous. I’m sure a majority of people would know, say, Darth Vader - but I’m not sure he’s as universal as these are. On the other hand, I’m biased by my western-european background so maybe friends in the Far East wouldn’t immediately recognise characters from fairy tales like Rapunzel).

Any thoughts? Additions? People on the list that you don’t get an immediate mental image for?

Card deck memorisation - post your times here!
#2

Neil,

I really like your idea here. In making my PAO system, I used quite a few such images. I think I have a touch of face blindness. While I have Tom Cruise for one of my Ps, for example, I really just see a fairly faceless black haired guy jumping on a couch. Things like Batman, knight, Chef, etc are much more visible in my memory.

I think another good reason to create a list like this is to create a template for children who maybe don’t have all the cultural references you do for people.

Take a look through my PAO and please post your progress in filling it out:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AuvTZ6T5HwZUdFRBa0R5Zm10LThrZjYzRFNFeGQ0Mnc

Jeff

#3

Neil

Reading your list finally got me off my ass to finish my “generic” PAOs. By that I mean I wanted to make a list of “alphabetized” PAOs for remembering names.

Original post

Mine are (so far)

Albert (Einstein)
Baker
Count (Sesame Street)
Dragon
Elvis
Fireman
Garfield (cat)
Hulk
Indiana Jones
Johnny Cash
Kitten
Librarian
Magician
Nun
*
*
Vampire
Wall-E
Xavier (X-Men)
Yoda
Zombie

Although after looking at the above lists, I think I’m going to modify my iAnki…

Jim

#4

Good post, Neil. I think it is often useful to have persons in your cast of actors who are identifiable, not as individuals, but as members of certain widely known classes, generally according to how they are dressed. I have been collecting a list of these generic characters for awhile and can add the following to yours. Perhaps they will be of use to someone.

arab, amish, bandit, batter, beefeater, beekeeper, bellhop, bobby, bride, cavalier, centaur, centurion, cheesehead, clown, construction worker, cyclops, deerhunter, deep sea diver, farmer, fencer, football player, frogman, gangster, griffin, grim reaper, harpy, hula dancer, karateka, king, matador, medusa, mermaid, mime, minotaur, monk, nun, pilgrim, pope, prisoner, quaker, queen’s guard, redcoat, referee, scholar, shepherd, snowman, soldier, sumo, surgeon, swiss guard, uncle sam, viking, welder, yeti

#5

Great thread. Some more:

  • alien
  • bard
  • butler
  • cheerleader
  • geisha
  • ghost
  • harlequin
  • maid
  • robot
  • scarecrow
  • schoolboy/girl
  • skeleton
  • statue
  • stormtrooper
  • SWAT police
  • troll
#6

@castleman I see your Uncle Sam and raise you a Lord Kitchener :slight_smile:

#7

Super! I also thought of these:

buddha, conductor (and various musicians), klansman, lady justice, lumberjack, photographer

#8

OK you got me thinking now…

  • tennis player
  • skier
  • priest
  • frankenstein’s monster
  • baby
  • roman (in toga)
#9

OK. Suddenly I’m thinking of more:

boxer, catcher, goth, jester, juggler, klingon, lilliputian, maitre d, ood, ringleader, santa

#10

Ood! Good one. Also Dalek, Cyberman, Borg, Starfleet officer, Ferengi.

#11

How about AFLAC duck, Chuck E Cheese, Colonel Sanders, crash test dummies, Energizer bunny, Geico Gecko, Maytag repairman, M&M characters, Mr Peanut, Pillsbury doughboy, Progressive Flo?

#12

I’m guessing those are USA things…

I know who Colonel Sanders is!
Crash test dummies are a nice universal!

#13

Erin E-surance…oooh, so sexy…

Minotaur
Sagittarius
Medusa

#14

I notice that things have evolved from a person’s full name (first name for first letter, last name for second letter) to a kind of hybrid of a name.

Doesn’t this get confusing because sometimes you are using a full name (first initials) and sometimes you are using different letter with a name?