Tongue twisters: Here are 10 of the toughest and trickiest tongue twisters to try - including in Gaelic and French
First becoming hugely popular in the 19th century, with the expression first recorded in 1895, tongue twisters are phrases that are incredibly difficult to say without making a mistake.
Often they use rapid sequences of similar sounding words that are easy to get jumbled, with the classic example being ‘she sells sea shells on the seashore’.
The use of alliteration and rhyme can also be used to trip up the speaker, as can combination of compound words and their constituent parts, for instance in the traditional tongue twister ‘how much wood would a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood?’.
As well as being amusing they are often used by actors and singers before a performance to warm up their voices.
And they can also help those learning a new language (tongue twisters are not unique to English), or help those who have a speech impediment learn to enunciate words properly.
Here are 10 tongue twisters to try, from the traditional to the more quirky, including in French and Gaelic.
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The use of alliteration and rhyme can also be used to trip up the speaker, as can combination of compound words and their constituent parts, for instance in the traditional tongue twister ‘how much wood would a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood?’.
9. I thought a thought.
I thought a thought. But the thought I thought, Wasn’t the thought I thought I thought. If the thought I thought I thought, Had been the thought I thought, I wouldn’t have thought I thought. Photo: Canva/Getty Images
10. Yellow butter, purple jelly, red jam, black bread.
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! Photo: Canva/Getty Images