Tongue Twisters

I got the idea of starting the thread from formality-hater's signature:
"I am a freak, lives in a freaky street and freaks on my freaky fate"
Good one, formality!

I have always found Tongue Twisters to be fun. Here are some good one's:

English Tongue Twisters
~I saw a saw that could out saw any other saw I ever saw.
~If you understand, say "understand".
If you don't understand, say "don't understand".
But if you understand and say "don't understand".
How do I understand that you understand? Understand!
~I wish to wish the wish you wish to wish, but if you wish the wish the witch wishes, I won't wish the wish you wish to wish.
~How many cans can a canner can, if a canner can can cans?

And here comes my favourite one:
A tree toad loved a she-toad
Who lived up in a tree.
He was a two-toed tree toad
But a three-toed toad was she.
The two-toed tree toad tried to win
The three-toed she-toad's heart,
For the two-toed tree toad loved the ground
That the three-toed tree toad trod.
But the two-toed tree toad tried in vain.
He couldn't please her whim.
From her tree toad bower
With her three-toed power
The she-toad vetoed him

Urdu Tongue Twisters
~Nazr ne nazr ko nazr bhar keh dekha, nazr ko nazr ki nazr lag gayi
~qoh basti bhi kiya basti hai, jis basti mein too hansti hay, us basti keh bas jaanay seh, meray dil ki basti basti hai. :D

Now I will love to see what kind of tongue twisters you like. Please post the one's you like, can be in other languages as well. And don't forget to tell us that which tongue twister did you find most difficult to pronounce?

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

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Originally Posted by papayahed

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

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Oh difficult one, I am never able to pronounce this one.

I LOVE toungue-twisters. On boreing nights I will walk around the house and resite everyone I can think of. There are two that took my the longest to say fast:
"Peggy Babcock" is probably the toughest one ever, maybe worse than "Toy boat" ... but may favorite is "A skunk sat on a stump and thunk the stump stunk, but the stump thunk the skunk stunk."
Good luck pals.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by IrishCanadian

I LOVE toungue-twisters. On boreing nights I will walk around the house and resite everyone I can think of. There are two that took my the longest to say fast:
"Peggy Babcock" is probably the toughest one ever, maybe worse than "Toy boat" ... but may favorite is "A skunk sat on a stump and thunk the stump stunk, but the stump thunk the skunk stunk."
Good luck pals.

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I don't find "Peggy Babcock" and "Toy Boat" really tough but the third one "A skunk.......stunk" is really tough!

Thats impressive Pensive ... I don't think I've ever met anyone that can match my nerdily practiced speed at Peggy Babcock five times in a row ... but I shant brag: I'm far too out of practice.

She sells seashells down by the seashore. (I think that's how it goes)

Quote:

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Thats impressive Pensive ... I don't think I've ever met anyone that can match my nerdily practiced speed at Peggy Babcock five times in a row ... but I shant brag: I'm far too out of practice

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Oh, I also can't say it too quickly, so I guess that it is not that much impressive.

~Good one Papaya!

Three sweet switched Swiss witches
Watch three washed Swiss witch Swatch watch switches.
Which sweet switched Swiss witch watches
Which washed Swiss witch Swatch watch switch?

A tutor who tooted the flute
Tried to tutor two tooters to toot
Said the two to the tutor
"Is it tougher to toot
Or to tutor two tooters to toot?"

not really a tongue twister, but a nursery rhyme (it's difficult enough for foreign learners to get the rhythm right, though):
The king asked the queen and the queen asked the dairy maid "Could we have some butter for the royal slice of bread?" The dairy maid said "Certainly. I'll go and ask the cow now before she goes to bed."

and a riddle+tongue twister:
As I was going to St Ives, I met a man with seven wives. Each wife had seven sacks, each sack had seven cats, each cat had seven kits; kits, cats, sacks and wives, how many were going to St. Ives?"

the one about the toad is hilarious, Pensy, I'll save it and use it to teach my pupils the diff between "th" and "t"

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SleepyWitch

Three sweet switched Swiss witches
Watch three washed Swiss witch Swatch watch switches.
Which sweet switched Swiss witch watches
Which washed Swiss witch Swatch watch switch?

A tutor who tooted the flute
Tried to tutor two tooters to toot
Said the two to the tutor
"Is it tougher to toot
Or to tutor two tooters to toot?"

not really a tongue twister, but a nursery rhyme (it's difficult enough for foreign learners to get the rhythm right, though):
The king asked the queen and the queen asked the dairy maid "Could we have some butter for the royal slice of bread?" The dairy maid said "Certainly. I'll go and ask the cow now before she goes to bed."

and a riddle+tongue twister:
As I was going to St Ives, I met a man with seven wives. Each wife had seven sacks, each sack had seven cats, each cat had seven kits; kits, cats, sacks and wives, how many were going to St. Ives?"

the one about the toad is hilarious, Pensy, I'll save it and use it to teach my pupils the diff between "th" and "t"

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Oh man, these first two are really very hard to pronounce. I have tried but I am not being able to... *frowns*

Aswer of riddle: Four wives were going to St. Ives... (I might be wrong...)

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Originally Posted by SleepyWitch

how many were going to St. Ives?

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Considering the fact that you met that lot, I suppose they were going in the other direction? So: Just you...

/Claes

hehe, yep it's only one person who's going to St Ives... as he meets the others on the way there, they must be coming from St Ives, not going there.....

the first time i read this i got fooled and started to display an uncharacteristical talent for maths :) it didn't have any long term effect though

One-one was a racehorse,
Two-two was one too.
When One-one won one race,
Two-two won one too!

Argh! Even a fingertwister to type! :p

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Miss Darcy

One-one was a racehorse,
Two-two was one too.
When One-one won one race,
Two-two won one too!

Argh! Even a fingertwister to type! :p

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Oh, now I am able to pronounce it after reading it for three or four times! :banana:

At first I could not get it right but now its a piece of cake:
Betty bought a bit of butter but the butter was so bitter so she bought another butter to make the bitter butter better.
...but i dont like it.

Oh man, I heard a new tongue-twister but that's a pity that I am forgetting it at this very moment. It was about a cheater and cheating...

REVIVED THREAD!

:D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by papayahed

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

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In my early years this question was alway quickly followed by the "answer":

He would chuck, he would, as much as he could, and chuck as much wood as a woodchuck would if a woodchuck could chuck wood!
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Some of my favorites:

A big black bug bit a big black bear,
made the big black bear bleed blood.
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Tim, the thin twin tinsmith (say THAT 10 times fast)
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A tree toad loved a she-toad
Who lived up in a tree.
He was a two-toed tree toad
But a three-toed toad was she.
The two-toed tree toad tried to win
The three-toed she-toad's heart,
For the two-toed tree toad loved the ground
That the three-toed tree toad trod.
But the two-toed tree toad tried in vain.
He couldn't please her whim.
From her tree toad bower
With her three-toed power
The she-toad vetoed him.
###
Ned Nott was shot and Sam Shott was not.
So it is better to be Shott than Nott.
Some say Nott was not shot.
But Shott says he shot Nott.
Either the shot Shott shot at Nott was not shot, or Nott was shot.
If the shot Shott shot shot Nott, Nott was shot.
But if the shot Shott shot shot Shott, then Shott was shot, not Nott.
However, the shot Shott shot shot not Shott - but Nott.


Someone shoot me before I post again!!

Much simpler: (say it as fast as you can)

Red lorry, yellow lorry, red lorry, yellow lorry, red lorry.....

you get the picture :)

This is sort of a naughty one....you'll find out what I mean if you say it three times as fast as you can...

One smart fellow, he felt smart,
Two smart fellows, they both felt smart,
Three smart fellows, they all felt smart.

Tell me how it goes :p ;)

I have liked all these tongue-twisters! Thanks for sharing them. :D

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Originally Posted by andave_ya

This is sort of a naughty one....you'll find out what I mean if you say it three times as fast as you can...

One smart fellow, he felt smart,
Two smart fellows, they both felt smart,
Three smart fellows, they all felt smart.

Tell me how it goes :p ;)

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After having some practice with it, now I think I am able to repeat it three times in a good speed (wouldn't call it very fast though!) :D

"Moses supposes his toses are roses
But Moses supposes erroneously
Moses he knowses his toses aren't roses
As Moses supposes his toses to be."

This was in our English studybook when I was 10 years old.

Here's a couple in Finnish :D :

"-Kas vain, sanoi kasvain ja kasvoi vain, koska kasvain vain vaivoin kasvaa voi noin vain."

"Keksijä Keksi keksi keksin. Keksittyään keksin keksijä Keksi keksi keksin keksityksi."

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Annamariah

"Moses supposes his toses are roses
But Moses supposes erroneously
Moses he knowses his toses aren't roses
As Moses supposes his toses to be."

This was in our English studybook when I was 10 years old.

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The third line is a bit of a trouble!

Quote:

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Here's a couple in Finnish :D :

"-Kas vain, sanoi kasvain ja kasvoi vain, koska kasvain vain vaivoin kasvaa voi noin vain."

"Keksijä Keksi keksi keksin. Keksittyään keksin keksijä Keksi keksi keksin keksityksi."

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What do they mean? :) I get this 'curious-feeling' whenever I see a foreign language...

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Originally Posted by Pensive

What do they mean? :) I get this 'curious-feeling' whenever I see a foreign language...

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The first one is something like:
"Well well!", said a tumor and only growed, because it's difficult for a tumor to go growing like that.

And the second:
Inventor Cookie invented a cookie. After inventing cookie inventor Cookie realised that cookie had already been invented.

It's not too easy to translate sentences that don't make much sense :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Annamariah

The first one is something like:
"Well well!", said a tumor and only growed, because it's difficult for a tumor to go growing like that.

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This is easy, but probably because it's translated. :p

Quote:

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And the second:
Inventor Cookie invented a cookie. After inventing cookie inventor Cookie realised that cookie had already been invented.

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It's more difficult than the other one.

Quote:

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It's not too easy to translate sentences that don't make much sense :D

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I agree. Sometimes, it's even difficult to translate sentences which make perfect senses. The translated version of the English books which I have read give me this idea...

This one is quite short but very difficult, especially if you say it many times as fast as you can::lol:

Yksikseskös yskiskelet yksiössäsi?
(Are you coughing all alone in your studio apartment?)

In Polish:

W Szczebrzeszynie chrząszcz brzmi w trzcinie
I Szczebrzeszyn z tego słynie.
Wół go pyta: ”Panie chrząszczu,
Po co pan tak brzęczy w gąszczu?" :)


It's the beginning of a poem for children. There's also: Grzegorz Brzęczyszczykiewicz, which is a name.

I always liked this one :
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,
Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

Probably because i struggled with it a lot when i had to practice it for my phonetics course. Now it's ok though, but it sounds nice anyway :)

Some that are really hard in Russian:

--На дворе дрова, за двором дрова, под двором дрова, над двором дрова, дрова вдоль двора, дрова вширь двора, не вместит двор дров. Двора выдворить обратно на дровяной двор.

--Рапортовал, да не дорапортавал, дорапортовывал, да зарапортовался.

--Сшит колпак не по колпаковски, вылит колокол не по-колоколовски, надо колпак переколпаковать, перевыколпаковать, перевыкалпоковать, переколпаковать.

In case you want to try to pronounce those, here they are written with latin letters (the letters are read as they are written, O is [o], a is [a], i is like in preposition 'in', 'sh' is like the first sound in 'shell' )):

--Na dvore drova, za dvorom drova, pod dvorom drova, nad dvorom drova, drova vdol' dvora, drova vshir' dvora, ne vmestit dvor drov. Dvora vydvorit' obratno na drovianoi dvor.

--Raportoval, da ne doraportaval, doraportovyval, da zaraportovalsia.

--S-sh-it* kolpak ne po kolpakovski, vylit kolokol ne po-kolokolovski, nado kolpak perekolpakovat', perevykolpakovat', perevykalpokovat', perekolpakovat'.
*read as one word