Table of contents
1 List of tongue-twisters in English
2 Tongue twisters in languages other than English
3 External links

List of tongue-twisters in English

Or, 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 Piper Piper picked?
  • A black bug's blood [repeated]
  • Toy boat [repeated]
  • Unique New York [repeated]
  • A box of biscuits, a box of mixed biscuits, and a biscuit mixer. [repeated]
  • I slit a sheet, a sheet I slit, upon a slitted sheet I sit. (used in Steve Martin's The Jerk)
  • She sells sea shells by the sea shore; the sea-shells that she sells are sea-shells I'm sure. or the hackers' version, She sells cshells by the cshore
  • How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
    • A woodchuck would chuck all the wood he could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood.
  • He thrusts his fists against the posts and still insists he sees the ghosts
  • I'm not the pheasant plucker, I'm the pheasant plucker's mate, and I'm only plucking pheasants 'cause the pheasant plucker's late. I'm not the pheasant plucker, I'm the pheasant plucker's son, and I'm only plucking pheasants till the pheasant pluckers come.
  • Rubber baby buggy bumpers [repeated] (used in the song "Fire Water Burn" by the Bloodhound Gang, and an episode of The Simpsons)
  • The black bloke's back brake block broke.
  • Red lorry, yellow lorry [repeated] Variant: Red leather, yellow leather
  • Betty Botter bought a bit of butter. / "But," she said, "this butter's bitter! / If I put it in my batter, / It will make my batter bitter!" / So she bought a bit of butter / Better than her bitter butter, / And she put it in her batter, / And her batter was not bitter. / So 'twas better Betty Botter / Bought a bit of better butter.
or: Betty bought a bit of butter, but the bit of butter Betty bought was bitter, so Betty bought a better bit of butter than the bit of butter Betty bought before.
  • The sixth sick sheikh's sixth sheep's sick
  • Road-roller [repeated]
  • Liril [repeated fast]
  • A cricket critic [repeated]
  • Round and round the rugged rock the ragged rascal ran.
  • The Leith police dismisseth us.
  • We reweave rips. (A sign in the window of a taylor's shop.)
  • One smart fellow, he felt smart / Two smart fellows, they felt smart / Three smart fellows, they all felt smart [fast]

Tongue twisters in languages other than English

Albanian

  • Karikaturisti karikaturon karikatura karakteristike
    translation: The caricaturist caricaturates caracteristic caricatures
  • Kupa me kapak kupa pa kapak
    translation: The cup with a lid the cup without a lid
  • Polli pula e Lleshit ne kaçile t'leshit
    translation: The hen of Lleshi laid an egg in a wool basket

Chinese (Cantonese)

(known as 急口令)
  • ming5 ding2 bing1 ding1 ting4 ding6 ting3 (酩酊兵丁停定聽)
    translation: The drunken soldier stopped and listened.
  • fu6 fu5 fu4 fu1 fu6 fu3 fu2 (傅婦扶夫赴富府)
    translation: Fu's wife carried her husband to the rich man's mansion.

Chinese (Mandarin)

(known as 繞口令)
  • xi1 shi1 si3 shi2 si4 shi2 si4 (西施死時四十四)
    translation: Xi Shi (a famous woman) died at age 44.

The following is a famous tongue twister found in ancient Chinese literature. It is a short story written exclusively with various tones of two similar sounding syllables (shi and si).

  • 施氏食獅史
石室詩士施氏,嗜獅,誓食十獅。氏時時適市視獅。十時,適十獅適市。是時,適施氏適是市。氏視十獅,恃矢勢,使是十獅逝世。氏拾是十獅屍,適石室。食時,始識十獅實十石獅屍。試釋是事。
  • Shi1shi4shi2shi3
Shi2shi4 shi4 shi1 shi4, shi4, shi4 si4 shi2. Shi4 shi4. Shi2, shi2 shi4. Shi4, shi1 shi4 shi4 shi4. Shi4 shi2, shi4 shi3, shi3 shi4 shi2 shi4shi4. Shi4 shi2 shi4 shi2, shi2shi4. Si4, shi3 shi2 shi2 shi2. Shi4 shi4.

Czech

  • Strč prst skrz krk.
    Translation: Stick a finger through your throat.
    Note that this sentence has no vowels!

Dutch

  • De koetsier poetst de postkoets met postkoetspoets.
    Translation: The coachman cleans the stagecoach with stagecoach cleaner.
  • De kat krapt de krullen van de trap met drie droge doeken.
    Translation: The cat scratches the woodcurls of the stairs with three dry cloths
  • de knappe kapper kapt knap maar de knappe knecht van de knappe kapper kapt knapper dan de knappe kapper kappen kan.
    Translation: the clever barber cut s hair well, but the clever helper of the clever barber cuts hair more clever that the clever barber cuts it.

Estonian

  • Pagari piparkook (repeated).
    Translation: Baker's ginger biscuit.
  • Musta lehma saba valge lehma taga, valge lehma saba musta lehma taga (repeated).
    Translation: Black cow's tale behind a white cow, white cow's tale behind a black cow.

Finnish

  • Vesihiisi sihisi hississä.
  • Pappilan apupapin papupata pangolla kiehuu.
  • Appilan pappilan apupapin paksuposkipiski pisti poskeensa paksun papupurkin.
  • Kokoo kokoon koko kokko! Koko kokkoko? Koko kokko.
  • Alavilla mailla hallan vaaraa.

French

  • La roue sur la rue roule; la rue sous la roue reste.
    Translation: The wheel on the road rolls; the road under the wheel stays.
  • Un chasseur sachant chasser sans son chien est un bon chasseur.
    Translation: A hunter who knows how to hunt without his dog is a good hunter.
  • Le pipe au papa de Pape Pie pue.
    Translation: Pope Pius's dad's pipe stinks.
  • Si ces saucissons sont bons, ces saucissons-ci sont aussi bons.
    Translation: If these sausages are good, these sausages here are also good.
  • Kiki était cocotte et Coco concasseur de cacao. Kiki la cocotte aimait beaucoup Coco le concasseur de cacao. Or un marquis caracolant, caduc et cacochyme, conquis par les coquins quinquets de Kiki la cocotte, offrit ŕ Kiki la cocotte un coquet caraco kaki ŕ col de caracul. Quand Coco le concasseur de cacao comprit qu'un marquis caracolant, caduc et cacochyme conquis par les coquins quinquets de Kiki la cocotte, avait offert ŕ Kiki la cocotte un coquet caraco kaki ŕ col de caracul, il conclut « Je clos mon caquet, je suis cocu ! »

German

Hungarian

  • Öt török öt görögöt dögönyöz örökös örömök között.
    Translation: Five Turks are massaging five Greeks amid everlasting delights.

Marathi (Indian)

  • Kacha papad, pakka papad [repeated]
    Translation: Cooked lentil wafer, raw lentil wafer.
  • chataila tachni tochli
  • LuLi mule baaLe

Polish

  • Pójdźże, kin tę chmurność w głąb flaszy.
    Translation: Come on, drop your sadness into the depth of a bottle.

Spanish

  • El arzobispo de Constantinopla se quiere desarzobispoconstantinopolitanizar y el arzobispo que lo desarzobispoconstantinopolitanice buen desarzobispoconstantinopolitanizador será.
    Translation: The archbishop of Constantinople does not want to be the archbishop of Constantinople, and the archbishop who un-archbishop-of-Constantinople-izes him will be a good un-archbishop-of-Constantinople-ifier.
  • Tres tristes tigres comen trigo en un trigal.
    Translation: Three sad tigers eat wheat in a wheat field.

Swedish

  • Sex laxar i en laxask.
    Translation: Six salmons in a salmon-box.
  • Packa pappas kappsäck.
    Translation: Pack daddy's suitcase.

Serbian

External links