Stalactites, Stalagmites

How do you remember the difference between stalactites and stalagmites in a cave? And how do you spell them?

A simple mnemonic that’s helped me is this:

• Stalactites cling tight to the ceiling.
• Stalagmites grow on the ground

For Stalactite, the "-tite" and "tight" remind you of the ceiling connection, and the letter “C” in stalactite fits perfectly with “ceiling.”

For Stalagmite, once you’ve got stalactite, stalagmites naturally become the ones that grow up from the ground, with their cheeky “G” matching “ground.” Easy, right?

With this trick, you’ll never mix them up again, whether you’re exploring caves or acing a quiz. Sorted.

Other popular mnemonics include:

• Tights fall down, and mites crawl up
• Stalactites stick tight to the ceiling and stalagmites might get there someday.
• The M in stalagmites has upward points and the T in stalactites is like a downward point.

But as they don't help me remember the C and G letters in the names, I prefer the first one.