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TONGUE TWISTERS

What is a tongue twister?

  • Usually difficult to say
  • Uses words that begin with the same letter (alliteration)
  • Can use repeated or rhyming words
  • Repeated several times & voiced as quickly as you can
  • Made-up words sometimes used

Benefits:

  • Increases articulation (helps you to pronounce each word correctly & helps to develop speaking skills)
  • Encourages rhythm & rhythmic breathing
  • Great warm-up for theatre
  • Plain old fun!

EXAMPLES:

Familiar:

  • Yellow butter, purple jelly, red jam, black bread.
    Spread it thick, say it quick!
    Yellow butter, purple jelly, red jam, black bread.
    Spread it thicker, say it quicker!
    Yellow butter, purple jelly, red jam, black bread.
    Don't eat with your mouth full!
  • Black bug bit a big black bear.
    But where is the big black bear that the big black bug bit?
  • Toy boat. Toy boat. Toy boat.
  • Rubber baby-buggy bumpers.
  • Sally sold seashells by the seashore.
  • Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
    A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked.
    If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
    How many pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick?
  • How much wood would a woodchuck chuck,
    if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
    He would chuck, he would, as much wood as he could,
    and chuck as much wood as a woodchuck would chuck
    if a woodchuck could chuck wood.

Not so familiar:

  • If you like to eat potato chips
    And chew pork chops on clipper ships,
    I suggest that you chew
    A few chips & a chop
    At Skipper Zipp's Clipper Ship Chip Chop Shop.
  • Through three cheese trees three free fleas flew.
    While these fleas flew, freezy breeze blew.
    Freezy breeze made these three trees freeze.
    Freezy trees made these trees cheese freeze.
    That's what made these three free fleas sneeze.
    Dr Seuss - Fox in Sox
  • A skunk sat on a stump and thunk the stump stunk,
    but the stump thunk the skunk stunk.

How about some one liners?

  • Selfish shellfish
  • Tragedy strategy
  • Shredded Swiss cheese
  • Irish wristwatch
  • Six slippery snails, slid slowly seaward.
  • Three twigs twined tightly.
  • Two toads totally tired
  • Will you, William?
  • Mix, Miss Mix!
  • Strange strategic statistics
  • What time does the wristwatch strap shop shut?
  • Are our oars oak?
  • The epitome of femininity
  • Kris Kringle carefully crunched on candy canes.
  • Preshrunk silk shirts
  • Quick kiss. quicker kiss.
  • Cedar shingles should be shaved & sawed.
  • Ed had edited it.
  • Truly rural
  • Sixish
  • Brad's big black bath brush broke.
  • Sure the ship's shipshape, sir.
  • Flash message
  • Moose noshing much mush.
  • Six short slow sheperds.
  • Lovely lemon liniment
  • Cheap ship trip
  • Knapsack straps
  • The myth of Miss Muffet

World's most difficult according to the Guinness World Records:

  • "The sixth sick sheikh's sixth sheep's sick."

What about foreign language tongue twisters?

  • Spanish: Ñoño Yántilde;ez come ntilde;ame en las mantilde;anas con el nintilde;o.
  • French: Je suis ce que je suis et si je suis ce que je suis,
    qu'est-ce que je suis?
  • Irish: Tá sicín ina seasamh sna sneachta lá siocha.
  • *See world's largest foreign language collection at www.uebersetzung.at/twister/ .

Create Your Own:

Choose a letter & try choosing words beginning with that same letter.

Example:

Using the letter "m":
Every Monday morning Mary moaned while mowing the meadow.

Who? - Mary
Did What? - mowed
Where? - meadow
When? - Monday morning

For advanced tongue twisters, add more description to either the Who, What, Where, When or add Why.

Example:

Every March Monday morning, Mary moaned while mowing the meadow in Montana.

Try it!!!

Who?
Did What?
Where?
When?

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