You do yourself a disservice by relying on simple-minded mnemonic devices to remember the meanings of numerator and denominator. It is better to understand what a fraction fundamentally represents.
It is easy to remember if you keep in mind the fact that the numerator and denominator are the components of a fraction, which is a mathematical expression that numerically represents a number less than one, i.e., something that is divided into pieces. The numerator tells us how many pieces there are – it has the same root as “number” or “enumerate”; and the denominator tells us how many pieces the whole is broken into. So, for example 5/8ths tells us that there is a fraction – a number less than 1 – that consists of 5 pieces of a whole that is broken into eight pieces, or eights. This if far more meaningful that “numerator is on top, denominator is on bottom.”
Can someone help me with remembering the difference between “terminator” and “refrigerator”?