I don't write my passwords down, but I do use reminders in a code of sorts.
An example: I have an account with the bank Bancomer. In Spanish, "comer" means to eat, so I refer to it as "eßenbanque". (I know it's "essen"; nobody likely to find my list would recognize the ß, though; it would be mistaken for a B.) If my password were "l4rryb1rd" (it's not) I might render it as "oiseaulázaro", just enough of a reminder, while still misleading.
This scheme might not work so well in, say, Brussels, but here in Monolingüilandia I think it's reasonable, although I do wonder from time to time just how sound it really is.
I use something vaguely similar for my passwords, but with Russian instead of spanish/german.
Fun fact: the password based on Russian transliteration that looks NOTHING like any English word I've seen (imagine "cexuqakr3") trips the linux "too close to dictionary word!" warning while a less secure password that's based on two english words (imagine "bellykitten13") doesn't.
An example: I have an account with the bank Bancomer. In Spanish, "comer" means to eat, so I refer to it as "eßenbanque". (I know it's "essen"; nobody likely to find my list would recognize the ß, though; it would be mistaken for a B.) If my password were "l4rryb1rd" (it's not) I might render it as "oiseaulázaro", just enough of a reminder, while still misleading.
This scheme might not work so well in, say, Brussels, but here in Monolingüilandia I think it's reasonable, although I do wonder from time to time just how sound it really is.