And then here's me having to have my wife help my daughter with her middle school math assignments because they entirely mystify me.

I had no idea that people struggled with this so much and have come up with such crazy (to me) ways of figuring it out.

Most of the world, if asked to write down numbers 1-100 on a line, would do so left to right. The < and > symbols are arrows pointing left and right. To the left the numbers decrease (less than) and to the right the numbers increase (greater than).

All this stuff about crocodiles and ducks seems like such a bizarre way to remember it!

I know that you can pronounce the emoticon <3 as less than three and it has for whatever reason replaced the crocodile mnemonic.

I got a zero on a math test in second grade because I said "the bigger number is on the bigger side" instead of "the crocodile wants to eat the bigger number", fuck you 2nd grade math teacher who made me hate math by being the thought police.

I never understood why so many people seemingly struggle with these signs to the point they need a mnemonic. The big side points to the big number and the small side to the small one. What even is there to remember?

My Mama says that alligators are ornery because they got all them teeth and no toothbrush

big side, big number

I earned it as the larger part being on the side of the bigger number

.<:

It's a thing that I've always thought that people over-complicate. It's just there, the small side with the small number the big side with the big number...

Directions are one of the most confusing aspect tbh. Bounding is difficult..

<3 is "less than three", and 3 is "three" so logically < is "less than"

Surely in theoretical physics, the most common use of > is in a ket (eg. |ψ>).

MesseR Rechts, GabeL Links.

Every single time when setting up dishes on the table.

I don't think I've ever been taught a mnemonic with animals

The small number is on the small side of the symbol, the large number is on the large side, it seems pretty intuitive to me, to be honest.

The teacher who first taught me told me “Pac Man wants to get the most points” and that stuck with me

"Points at the smaller thing"

Every time I watch a student stall out on inequalities I ask "it's the crocodile isn't it?". Without fail, they've got confused by it and as soon as they hear "points at the smaller thing" they have no issues.