Tongue Twisters

“A tongue-twister is a phrase that is designed to be difficult to articulate properly. Tongue-twisters may rely on similar but distinct phonemes (e.g., s [s] and sh [ʃ]),
unfamiliar constructs in loanwords, or other features of a language.
The hardest tongue-twister in the English language according to Guinness World Records is supposedly The sixth sick sheikh's sixth sheep's sick.”
- Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tongue_twisters
The sixth sheikh’s sixth sheep’s sick.

Say these five times fast:

Toy boat Thin thing Wet rain

French friend Bridget is British Red leather, yellow leather
Sometimes sunshine Blue sheep, black sheep Unique New York

Saying these just once is hard enough:

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck

Fuzzy wuzzy was a bear,
if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
Fuzzy wuzzy had no hair,
A woodchuck would chuck all the wood that he could
Fuzzy wuzzy wasn't fuzzy, was he?
if a woodchuck could chuck wood.

Sister Sue sells sea shells.

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
She sells sea shells on shore.
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked.
The shells she sells.
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
Are sea shells she sees.
Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?
Sure she sees shells she sells.

Spoonerisms are tongue twisters for adults – watch your mouths!

I am a mother pheasant plucker. I slit the sheet

I pluck mother pheasants. The sheet I slit
I am the most pleasant mother pheasant plucker to ever I sit upon
pluck a mother pheasant. The sheet I slit

There was one smart feller and he felt smart

There were two smart fellers and they felt smart I'm a sock cutter and I cut socks.
There were three smart fellers and they all felt smart

There are many websites offering huge lists of tongue twisters online, for free:

The First International Collection of Tongue Twisters

http://www.uebersetzung.at/twister/en.htm
The Tongue Twister Database
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/8136/tonguetwisters.html
Thinks.com Tongue Twisters
http://thinks.com/words/tonguetwisters.htm
The EFL Playhouse: Tongue Twister Database for English Language Learners
http://www.esl4kids.net/tongue.html

Renato Ganoza for EF Zhengzhou, 2009

Some of my favorite tongue twisters:

A quick witted cricket critic.

Eleven benevolent elephants.

He threw three free throws.

Clowns grow glowing crowns.

Sixty-six sick chicks.

A proper cup of coffee from a proper copper coffee pot.

Six sick hicks nick six slick bricks with picks and sticks.

So, this is the sushi chef?

Can you think of any tongue twisters?

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Try to find five longer ones.
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Renato Ganoza for EF Zhengzhou, 2009