Is this your sister's sixth zither, sir?

December 30, 2004 8:17 AM

Twisting Tongues in Other Tongues
This page was originally created to give a good group of tongue twisters to people in speech therapy, to people who want to work on getting rid of an accent, or to people who just plain like tongue twisters. I hope you enjoy them.
posted by miss lynnster (32 comments total)

I've submitted a few to übersetzung. It's one of my favorite sites. I wish they'd provide transliterations of the Georgian ones so I could share the misery with others.
posted by Wolfdog at 8:22 AM on December 30, 2004

Merde! Je me rappelle bien ceux-ci: awful, horrible, torturous, but indispensible in terms of training on pronunciation. Great find!
posted by psmealey at 8:28 AM on December 30, 2004

I feel as if I have Tourette's now.
(Lots of fun, though, thanks)
posted by immer geradeaus at 8:36 AM on December 30, 2004

Neat!
posted by OmieWise at 8:36 AM on December 30, 2004

Whoa, I stumbled onto the second link ages ago, nice to see it again. This one is a variation on the Eats, Shoots, and Leaves story, btw. Thanks!
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 8:55 AM on December 30, 2004

or try this one for beginners
posted by j.p. Hung at 8:56 AM on December 30, 2004

Google's cache of the geocities link in case it goes kaputski.

I like this one:
C’hwec’h merc’h gwerc’h war c’hwec’h marc’h kalloc’h o tougen c’hwec’h sac’h kerc’h.
posted by iconomy at 8:56 AM on December 30, 2004

these really are fun--i'm going to use these to confuse Italians when i'm there ; >
posted by amberglow at 9:01 AM on December 30, 2004

Whoa. Deep.
posted by Uccellina at 9:11 AM on December 30, 2004

lynnster’s list slurs lips

Some are difficult to say even once:
Unique New York
Three free throws
Flash message!

Should I seek speech therapy?
--oops, there’s another.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 9:12 AM on December 30, 2004

Thanks for the cache, iconomy... it appears to be kaputski already!

All I know is that I now wish my name was "Peggy Babcock"... imagine all of the torment my name could cause! Mwaaaahhhhahaha! (rubbing hands together in evil fashion.) ;)
posted by miss lynnster at 9:22 AM on December 30, 2004

Kali ka katër këmbë, këmbët e kalit kërcasin kur kali kalon kanalin.

Excellent stuff -- thanks, miss lynster!
posted by languagehat at 9:24 AM on December 30, 2004

Is Tourette's infectious, and if so does anyone know where I can get it?
posted by Cancergiggles at 9:26 AM on December 30, 2004

Just get a really bad back injury... that worked for me. I can even curse like a sailor in my sleep now. It's Tourettes-o-licious.
posted by miss lynnster at 9:30 AM on December 30, 2004

Is Tourette's infectious, and if so does anyone know where I can get it?
I think it's available at Tourette's Etcetera.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 9:33 AM on December 30, 2004

Shades of speech therapy!

I had a lisp and stuttered when I was young [okay, I still do, some] and my speech therapist used a lot of these to help me overcome it.

Oh the pain of the 'S' words!

Seriously why DOES the word lisp have an 's' in it?
posted by kamylyon at 9:36 AM on December 30, 2004

"Vincent vowed vengeance very vehemently."

I think that happened at Cannes.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 9:37 AM on December 30, 2004

In Ulm und um Ulm und um Ulm herum.

Froh Zeit, y'all....
posted by alumshubby at 9:38 AM on December 30, 2004

Seriously why DOES the word lisp have an 's' in it?

I'd guess it's onomatopoeic, at least to a certaint extent. Dutch is "slis(-sen)".
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 10:05 AM on December 30, 2004

Theothalis Thistle, successful thistle sifter,
One day, while sifting a sieve of unsifted thistles,
Stuck an unsifted thistle through the thick of his nose.
posted by MotherTucker at 10:33 AM on December 30, 2004

What, no Sanskrit? Sri syadasti syadavaktavya syadasti syannasti syadasti cavaktavyasca syadasti syannasti syadavatavyasca syadasti syannasti syadavaktavyasca.
posted by squidlarkin at 10:37 AM on December 30, 2004

Those must be some mean chickens (#30).
posted by NemesisVex at 10:55 AM on December 30, 2004

I love tongue twisters. They are descriptions of a magic land filled with tinsmiths and shepards and witches and animals having peppy conversations, with a currency so rich its citizens buy seashells at the seashore and have whole stores devoted to fish sauce, and all are peacefully ruled by their benevolent and inscrutable queen, Peggy Babcock. It makes me happy to visit new fiefdoms, and receive their wisdom. Particularly pretty post miss lynster!
posted by melissa may at 10:55 AM on December 30, 2004

I likes em cause they're funny and people are funny trying to say em. But what M. May says, too.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 10:59 AM on December 30, 2004

järjestelmällistämättömyydelläänsäkäänköhän. Yeah.
posted by dabitch at 11:19 AM on December 30, 2004

Owww. Mi mowf hurts. Nife poft.
posted by bdave at 4:45 PM on December 30, 2004

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



Anyone smelt fart on that one? I did. Phew.
posted by OpinioNate at 5:52 PM on December 30, 2004

In Mandarin Chinese, there's the "stone lion" (shi [second tone], shi [first tone]) twisters, some of which combine the unretroflexed si (as in "four") with the retroflexed shi. But here's one with all shi's that starts out

shi2 shi4 shi1 shi4 shi1 shi4, shi4 shi1
shi4 shi2 shi2 shi1

Which of course means

there was a poetic scholar whose name is Mr. Shi, who took delight in lions,
he vowed to eat 10 lions

"si-shi-si" ('forty-four") is the Mandarin version of a Shibolleth. Southern Chinese have difficulty with retroflex sounds including the "sh" so si-shi-si comes out, to the snickers of the Beijing crowd, as si-si-si.
posted by mono blanco at 6:50 PM on December 30, 2004

"C'est pas beau mais tentant de tenter de tâter, de téter les tétons de tata quand tonton n'est pas là. "

*plays "Yackety Sax"*
posted by Wolof at 7:02 PM on December 30, 2004

Try to find something in Czech that ISN'T a tongue twister.
posted by RavinDave at 10:10 PM on December 30, 2004

haha. Great find. A Japanese favorite of mine:
19. "Sumomo mo momo, momo mo momo, sumomo mo momo mo momo no uchi."
posted by xtian at 12:31 PM on December 31, 2004

Shla Sasha pa shasse i sasala sushku.
posted by ORthey at 2:17 PM on January 3, 2005