Often when I am trying to learn something I use the splatter method. I throw various ways to remember something against the wall until something sticks. Today I try to see how I can remember the abbreviations of each of states. First I see how spelling patterns are in common.

 

States with first and last letter

Connecticut    CT

Georgia          GA

Hawaii            HI

Iowa                IA

Kansas            KS

Kentucky        KY

Louisiana        LA

Maine             ME

Maryland        MD

Pennsylvania PA

Vermont         VT

Virginia          VA

 

States with first and second letter

Alabama          AL

Arkansas         AR

California       CA

Colorado         CO

Delaware        DE

Florida            FL

Idaho               ID

Illinois            IL

Indiana            IN

Massachusetts MA

Michigan         MI

Nebraska         NE

Ohio                OH

Oklahoma       OK

Oregon           OR

Utah                UT

Washington    WA

Wisconsin       WI

Wyoming        Wy

 

Two name states

New Hampshire NH

New Jersey NJ

New Mexico NM

New York NY

North Carolina NC

North Dakota ND

Rhode Island RI

South Carolina SC

South Dakota SD

West Virginia WV

 

Double letter states

Minnesota MN

Mississippi MS

Tennessee TN

 

Each of the above has some pattern that can help me to remember their spelling. Now I have six remaining exceptions. I’ll try a few mnemonic for these to see if it’ll help.

Exceptions

Alaska            AK      We got Alaska from Russia thus we paid asked for the land.

Arizona           AZ       Many people move to Arizona to retire and sleep (Zzzz) or AZ

Missouri         MO      I’m blank on this. How about Don’t Miss Our beloved MO.

Montana          MT      Montana I think of open sky and trees thus T for Tree or MT

Nevada            NV      I think of a funnel “V” like coins going into a slot machine. NV

Texas              TX       X marks the spot like the Alamo or TX