reference

The Major System chart

Every number from 00 to 99, the consonants it encodes, and a peg word to hang an image on. This is the list; the full guide is where the reasoning lives.

A peg word is not a translation. It is a hook: a concrete, picturable noun whose consonants spell the number back to you. The list below is the set this dictionary ships as a starting point, drawn from the pegs that have circulated in memory-sport practice for decades. Swap any of them. A peg you invented from your own kitchen beats a peg you inherited from a book, every time, because the image already has a place to live.

Vowels carry no digits, which is what makes the system workable: tea, toe and Thai all encode 1. You are never stuck for a candidate word. The cost is that you must pick one and stay with it, or recall turns into a guess between three equally plausible images.

The digits

Ten sounds, and every peg on this page is built from them. The reasoning behind each pairing (why 7 is k, why 6 collects four different sounds) is in the guide.

Digit	Sounds
0	s, z, soft c
1	t, d, th
2	n
3	m
4	r
5	l
6	sh, ch, j, soft g
7	k, hard c, hard g, q
8	f, v
9	p, b

The 100 pegs · 00 to 99

Each row links to its entry page, where the community's alternative pegs for that number are ranked by vote. The crowned peg is the one shown here.

100 cards: the number on the front, the peg word on the back. Imports into Anki Desktop and AnkiWeb; re-importing updates rather than duplicates.

No.	Sounds	Peg	Why it sticks
00	S·S	sauce	two soft hisses become a poured sauce.
01	T	tea	one stroke of the pen, one cup of tea.
02	N	Noah	two of every animal, captained by Noah.
03	M	Ma	three letters in MOM, call her up.
04	R	ray	R (4): a single ray cresting the hill.
05	L	law	five fingers raised, swearing the law.
06	Ch/J	shoe	Sh (6): the lucky shoe slides on, a leather hiss.
07	K	key	K (7): key clicks the tumbler open.
08	F/V	ivy	eight tendrils of ivy on a wall.
09	P/B	pie	nine slices, one missing.
10	T·S	toes	ten toes, count them.
11	T·T	tot	a small child, 1 + 1.
12	T·N	tin	tin can, twelve in a pack.
13	T·M	tomb	T+M = tomb · the mummy lies inside.
14	T·R	tire	T (1) + R (4): tire blows on the highway.
15	T·L	towel	T (1) + L (5): towel snaps in the locker room.
16	T·Sh	dish	T (1) + Sh (6): dish crashes, the Sh of broken china.
17	T·K	tack	T (1) + K (7): tack pressed into cork with a click.
18	T·F	dove	T (1) + V (8): dove takes flight, the whoosh of wings.
19	T·P	tape	T (1) + P (9): tape pulled from the dispenser, pop by pop.
20	N·S	nose	N (2) + S (0): nose twitches, then the sniffle.
21	N·T	knot	N (2) + T (1): knot pulled tight, the grunt of effort.
22	N·N	nun	two N's, two nuns in the cloister.
23	N·M	name	your name on a 23-page form.
24	N·R	Nero	N (2) + R (4): Nero's fiddle growls as Rome burns.
25	N·L	nail	N (2) + L (5): nail driven flush with one blow.
26	N·Sh	notch	N (2) + Sh (6): notch cut into the shaft.
27	N·K	neck	N (2) + K (7): neck craning over the fence to look.
28	N·F	knife	N (2) + F (8): knife drawn, the hiss of steel on leather.
29	N·P	knob	N (2) + B (9): knob turned, the click before entry.
30	M·S	mouse	M (3) + S (0): mouse darts, a squeak under the hedge.
31	M·T	mat	M (3) + T (1): mat scuffed at the door.
32	M·N	moon	M (3) + N (2): moon hums over the lake.
33	M·M	mummy	two M's, twin mummies side by side.
34	M·R	mower	M (3) + R (4): mower roars across the strip.
35	M·L	mule	M (3) + L (5): mule leans and won't budge.
36	M·Ch	match	M (3) + Ch (6): match struck, the scrape and flash.
37	M·K	mug	M (3) + K (7): mug clinks down on the saucer.
38	M·F	movie	M (3) + V (8): movie reel whirs in the dark.
39	M·P	map	M (3) + P (9): map rustles open at the crease.
40	R·S	rose	R (4) + S (0): rose stem rips from the soil.
41	R·T	rat	R (4) + T (1): rat claws scratch the plexiglass.
42	R·N	rain	R (4) + N (2): rain drums the windowpane.
43	R·M	ram	R (4) + M (3): ram locks horns.
44	R·R	rower	R (4) + R (4): two oar-strokes, the rower pulls.
45	R·L	rail	R (4) + L (5): rail leaned on, the long groan of wood.
46	R·Sh	rash	R (4) + Sh (6): a red rash spreads.
47	R·K	rock	R (4) + K (7): rock kicked off the path.
48	R·F	roof	R (4) + F (8): roof tiles rattle in the gale.
49	R·P	rope	R (4) + P (9): rope burned through your hands.
50	L·S	lace	L (5) + S (0): lace whispers as the bow tightens.
51	L·T	lad	L (5) + T (1): lad bolts out the door.
52	L·N	lion	L (5) + N (2): lion's low warning rumble.
53	L·M	lamb	L (5) + M (3): lamb bleats at the gate.
54	L·R	lure	L (5) + R (4): lure flashes and rattles in the current.
55	L·L	lily	two L's, twin lilies.
56	L·Sh	leash	L (5) + Sh (6): leash snaps taut, the lurch forward.
57	L·K	lake	L (5) + K (7): lake surface cracks in the cold.
58	L·F	leaf	L (5) + F (8): leaf falls, the dry crunch underfoot.
59	L·P	lip	L (5) + P (9): lips kiss-pop into the mic.
60	Ch·S	cheese	Ch (6) + S (0): cheese oozes.
61	Ch·T	sheet	Sh (6) + T (1): sheet snapped taut over the mattress.
62	Ch·N	chain	Ch (6) + N (2): chain dropped, the ringing noise.
63	Ch·M	jam	J (6) + M (3): jam slops off the spoon.
64	Ch·R	chair	Ch (6) + R (4): chair scrapes across the stone.
65	Sh·L	shell	Sh (6) + L (5): shell held up, the long ocean hush.
66	Ch·Ch	judge	J (6) + J (6): judge's gavel, strike and echo.
67	Ch·K	chalk	Ch (6) + K (7): chalk snaps against the slate.
68	Sh·F	chef	Ch (6) + F (8): chef's pan flares, the whoosh.
69	Sh·P	ship	Sh (6) + P (9): ship parts the fog, horn blast.
70	K·S	case	K (7) + S (0): case clicks open, papers fan.
71	K·T	cat	K (7) + T (1): cat lands, the soft thump.
72	K·N	can	K (7) + N (2): can opener clicks.
73	K·M	comb	K (7) + M (3): comb crackles through dry hair.
74	K·R	car	K (7) + R (4): car coughs, then the engine roars.
75	K·L	coal	K (7) + L (5): coal clinks into the scuttle.
76	K·Sh	cash	K (7) + Sh (6): cash riffles under a thumb.
77	K·K	cake	two K's, double-layer cake.
78	K·F	cave	K (7) + V (8): cave drips far back in the dark.
79	K·P	cap	K (7) + P (9): cap strap snaps shut.
80	F·S	face	F (8) + S (0): face flat, the shutter clicks.
81	F·T	fat	F (8) + T (1): fat drips off the rack.
82	F·N	fan	F (8) + N (2): fan whirrs, papers flutter.
83	F·M	foam	F (8) + M (3): foam pops along the tide line.
84	F·R	fire	F (8) + R (4): fire crackles, sparks rise.
85	F·L	file	F (8) + L (5): file slides from the drawer.
86	F·Sh	fish	F (8) + Sh (6): fish slaps the wicker creel.
87	F·K	fog	F (8) + K (7): fog swallows the headlights.
88	F·F	fife	two F's, twin fifes.
89	F·P	fob	F (8) + B (9): fob chimes against the waistcoat.
90	P·S	pose	P (9) + S (0): hold the pose.
91	P·T	pot	P (9) + T (1): pot lid lifts and drops.
92	P·N	pen	P (9) + N (2): pen nib scratches the fibre.
93	P·M	poem	P (9) + M (3): poem's page turns with a soft hum.
94	P·R	pier	P (9) + R (4): pier boards creak underfoot.
95	P·L	pail	P (9) + L (5): pail sloshes at the rim.
96	P·Sh	peach	P (9) + Ch (6): peach splits with a squelch.
97	P·K	puck	P (9) + K (7): puck cracks off the post.
98	P·F	puff	P (9) + F (8): puff of steam breathes out.
99	P·P	pipe	two P's, twin pipes.

Three digits · 000 to 999

Two digits give you 100 pegs, which is enough for a shopping list and not enough for a deck of cards or a long number. Three-digit pegs give you 1,000, and they let you chunk a digit string three at a time instead of two: a 30-digit number becomes ten images rather than fifteen. The trade is a tenfold increase in what you have to build.

The ten blocks below hold the full table. Each is grouped by its leading digit, so every peg in a block opens on the same sound, which is the order you want to learn them in. The pegs shipped here are a scaffold: the twenty-one anchor numbers are authored, the rest are composed from the phoneme table and are meant to be overridden with something you can actually see.

1,000 cards: the number on the front, the peg on the back. The 0xx pegs are the two-digit words, about a hundred are hand-written, and the rest are two-word phrases that decode exactly (137 is tomb key). Edit any card in Anki.

s, z, soft c

000–099

The one block that bends the rules: its pegs are built from the two-digit peg for the first two digits plus a suffix, so the leading zero goes unsounded and 013 is teamy rather than an s-initial word.

open the block →

t, d, th

100–199

Every peg here starts with t or d, which makes the block unusually easy to build: English is thick with t-initial nouns.

open the block →

200–299

A thin block to build, because English offers fewer n-initial nouns than t- or r-initial ones.

open the block →

300–399

The most-used block in the whole table, because 314 (matter) is pi and 365 (mesh hole) is the year.

open the block →

400–499

The r sound leads, and r-initial English is rich, so these pegs tend to come out as real words with little effort.

open the block →

500–599

L leads every peg in this block, which gives it a liquid, easy-to-say quality: 500 (lassos), 555 (lily law).

open the block →

sh, ch, j, soft g

600–699

Six carries four sounds (sh, ch, j, soft g), so this block has the widest choice of any and the loosest procedural pegs: the composer picks sh first and it does not always land on English.

open the block →

k, hard c, hard g, q

700–799

A hard k or g opens every peg, which makes the block percussive and easy to recall under time pressure.

open the block →

f, v

800–899

F and v lead every peg here, and the v ones are the awkward half: English has few v-initial nouns, so 888 lands on vivify rather than a picture you can see.

open the block →

p, b

900–999

P and b lead, and the block holds two numbers everyone already carries: 911 (put out) and 999.

open the block →

Why any of this works

The history, the phonetic reasoning, worked examples, and when not to use the Major System at all.

read the guide →