Jog my memory, lose your memory
(Collocations with memory)

    Just a couple of days ago, I wrote a sentence on the whiteboard: Who can play the piano? One of my students said excitedly, "The piano man can." I was a bit puzzled and our conversation continued like this:

      Me: The piano man?
      Student: Yes. Do you know about the piano man?
      Me: Oh, that sounds familiar. Erm... jog my memory.
      Student: In England. The man they found on the beach...
      Me: O--oh, yes, right. I remember now. Yeah, he was on the BBC news.

    Maybe you've also read the story of the piano man. To give a very brief summary: he was found wandering around a beach in the south of England on April 7th. He was wearing a good suit and seemed very nervous and frightened. He has been in a nursing home since that day and hasn't spoken to anyone. However, one day he sat at the piano in the nursing home and played classical music for several hours. Apparently, he is a brilliant pianist but, up to now, nobody knows who he is or where he came from. (If you want to read more about him, please click here).

Jog my memory

    Did you notice the phrase I used when I spoke to my student?
    • Oh, that sounds familiar. Erm... jog my memory.

    I'm sure you all know the word, memory, but I wonder how many of you know the phrase, jog my memory. It means something like, "say something to help me remember." You might here it in courtroom scenes like this:

      Lawyer: (showing photograph). Do you know this man?
      Defendant: No.
      Lawyer: You've never met him before?
      Defendant: No, never.
      Lawyer: Well, let me jog your memory. On the night of August 15th, you...


    IMPORTANT POINT:
    We have seen the phrase, jog my memory. What about the phrase, lose your memory? Perhaps the mysterious piano man we talked about earlier has lost his memory.

    When we learn English words, it is important to learn some of the typical phrases we can use those words in. For example, if we are talking about a noun, what are some of the verbs and adjectives which are most often used with that word. Here are some examples for memory:

    VERBS:
    • let me jog your memory / let me refresh your memory
    • he's lost his memory
    • if my memory serves me well
    • commit something to memory

    ADJECTIVES:
    • a good memory for names and faces (i.e. remembers names and faces easily)
    • a terrible memory for names  (i.e. forgets names easily)
    • the worst earthquake in living memory (i.e. during our lifetimes)
    • one of the worst disasters in recent memory.

Exercise

    Fill in the blanks with words form the list below. Some of these words are verbs and some are adjectives:
commit / recite / lose / excellent / refresh / living / serves / terrible
    1. People begin to ______ their memory as they get older.
    2. When you receive your PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION NUMBER, please ______ it to memory and then destroy the paper.
    3. Last summer was one of the hottest in ______ memory.
    4. I don't remember all the details of the report, you'll have to ______ my memory.
    5. My mother has an ______ memory for faces. She never forgets anyone.
    6. I have a ______ memory for names. Unless I meet someone half a dozen times, I'll never remember who they are.
    7. My Uncle Jack's incredible. He can ______ hundreds of poems from memory.
    8. If my memory ______ me well, I think we met last year at the Nagoya conference.

    Click here to check your answers and to read some more details.

    Please click on the link below if you want to try some of my other one-point lessons:
    Bob's One-Point Lesson Archive

    © Robert E. Jones, 2005