# Non-English tongue twisters **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 25, 2015, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-tongue-twisters/741330 "2015-12-25T15:08:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2015, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-tongue-twisters/741330/1 "2015-12-25T15:08:40Z")
Along the lines of “she sells sea shells by the sea shore.” Examples in your (or someone else’s) native language (not English)? ---
**Author:** ![Isosleepy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/isosleepy/32/479_2.png) [@Isosleepy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isosleepy)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2015, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-tongue-twisters/741330/2 "2015-12-25T16:34:52Z")
Dutch: De kat krabt de krullen van de trap met drie droge doeken. Afrikaans: My liewe neef Louw, my neus jeuk nou. Jeuk my liewe neef Louw se neus ook nou? German:Fischer Fritz ißt feine frische Fische, feine frische Fische ißt Fischer Fritz. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2015, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-tongue-twisters/741330/3 "2015-12-25T16:43:35Z")
Here’s an example Thai tongue-twister: ยายกินลำไย น้ำลายยายไหลย้อย … /yai kin lamyai namlai yai lai yoi/ … The meaning is ‘Grandma eats longan, Grandma’s saliva drools.’ ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2015, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-tongue-twisters/741330/4 "2015-12-25T16:49:59Z")
Wenn du denkst du denkst dann denkst du nur du denkst ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2015, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-tongue-twisters/741330/5 "2015-12-25T16:54:02Z")
Spanish: “Tres triste tigres trabajan trigo.” “Three sad tigers work wheat.” ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2015, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-tongue-twisters/741330/6 "2015-12-25T18:44:59Z")
My elementary school French and German classes primarily comprised songs and rhymes. The only one I remember well enough to look up: Bonjour Madame Sans-Souci. Combien sont ces soucis-ci? Six sous, ces soucis-ci. Six sous?! C’est trop cher, Madame Sans-Souci. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2015, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-tongue-twisters/741330/7 "2015-12-26T01:28:29Z")
Swedish. There’s lots of variants of this one, but this is the most amusing one I found online: > [@](#): > > Sjutusensjuhundrasjuttiosju sköna, sjösjuka sjuksköterskor > sköter sjuttontusensjuhundrasjuttiosju sjösjuka sjömän, > skönt skönmålande de sköna sköterskornas skötande av sjömännen.​ Depending on where in the country you are from, the sj/sk sound is a bit like “sh” or “hwu”. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2015, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-tongue-twisters/741330/8 "2015-12-26T02:50:28Z")
Como poco coco cómo, poco coco compro. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2015, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-tongue-twisters/741330/9 "2015-12-26T04:21:46Z")
There’s the Japanese one: “Sumomo mo momo, momo mo momo, sumomo mo momo mo momo no uchi”, meaning, “Plums are peaches, and peaches are peaches, and plums and peaches are both types of peaches.” ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2015, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-tongue-twisters/741330/10 "2015-12-26T04:55:38Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Spanish: “Tres triste tigres trabajan trigo.” > > “Three sad tigers work wheat.” I know it as _tragan_ (swallow, eat) or _trillan_ (thresh). Any of the three versions makes for some very sad tigers indeed 🙂 I found [a whole website](http://trabalenguascortos.com) dedicated to short tongue-twisters in Spanish and English. And [here](http://bibliopoemes.blogspot.com.es/2008/11/embarbussaments-i-travallenges-quin.html) you can see some in Catalan. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2015, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-tongue-twisters/741330/11 "2015-12-26T05:04:11Z")
There’s a Catalan one I had to learn for Christmas when I was little, which isn’t in that page and apparently has as many variations as speakers, with the first line being the part everybody agrees on. This is the version I got from my family: _setze jutges d’un jutjat mentgen fetge d’un penjat_ (16 judges from a tribunal eat a hanged man’s liver) _si el penjat es despenjés, setze jutges ja no en mentjarian mai el fetge d’un penjat_ (if the hanged man unhung himself, the 16 judges would never again eat a hanged man’s liver) ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2015, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-tongue-twisters/741330/12 "2015-12-26T07:46:16Z")
In Finnish: “hisi sihisi hissa” (A devil hissed in an elevator.) You should have no trouble using this in every-day conversation. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2015, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-tongue-twisters/741330/13 "2015-12-26T09:16:44Z")
Hebrew: “Sarah shara shir same’ach” (Sarah sings a happy song). ---
**Author:** ![yo\_han\_go](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yo_han_go/32/130_2.png) [@yo\_han\_go](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yo_han_go)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2015, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-tongue-twisters/741330/14 "2015-12-26T12:00:37Z")
Slovenian: “Pešci, ščistite cestišče” (Pedestrians, clean out the road). ---
**Author:** ![Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrogance_ex_machina/32/192_2.png) [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrogance_Ex_Machina)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2015, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-tongue-twisters/741330/15 "2015-12-26T12:52:12Z")
> [@movingfinger](#): > > In Finnish: “hisi sihisi hissa” (A devil hissed in an elevator.) You should have no trouble using this in every-day conversation. It’s “hiisi sihisi hississä”, actually. Pretty easy to say. There’s also “mustan kissan paksut posket” (black cat’s thick cheeks) which is a bit harder, especially if you try to say it a few times in a row. And “pappilan apupapin pankolla papupata porisee” (bean dish boils on assistant priest’s clergy house oven). ---
**Author:** ![Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ac8455/32.png) [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Your_Great_Darsh_Face)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2015, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-tongue-twisters/741330/16 "2015-12-26T13:05:20Z")
Not my native tongue, but in French “If six saws saw six sausages, six hundred and six saws saw six hundred and six sausages”: _Si six scies scient six saucissons, six cent six scies scient six cent six saucissons_ ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2015, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-tongue-twisters/741330/17 "2015-12-26T14:14:53Z")
Me no speakee Basque, but I do know how to use the Basque-Spanish dictionary 🙂 The top half is “magic formulas”, the bottom half is [tongue-twisters](http://eibz.educacion.navarra.es/baliabideak/a_materiala/0708/hh_zotz.htm). And more [tongue-twisters](http://blogak.com/guzurtruk/aho-korapiloak). ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2015, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-tongue-twisters/741330/18 "2015-12-26T14:29:08Z")
[1st International Collection of Tongue Twisters](http://www.uebersetzung.at/twister/). Enjoy! ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2015, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-tongue-twisters/741330/19 "2015-12-26T14:40:34Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > Sjutusensjuhundrasjuttiosju sköna, sjösjuka sjuksköterskor > sköter sjuttontusensjuhundrasjuttiosju sjösjuka sjömän, > skönt skönmålande de sköna sköterskornas skötande av sjömännen.​ Pronounced: “BorkBorkBörk.BorkBorkBörkBorkBorkBörkBörkBorkBörk,BorkBorkBörkBorkBörkBork.” ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2015, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-tongue-twisters/741330/20 "2015-12-26T14:47:31Z")
> [@Mighty\_Girl](#): > > Como poco coco cómo, poco coco compro. As I eat little coconut, I buy little coconut (Please mentally delete that tilde that doesn’t belong there). Another one: Pepe Pecas pica papas con un pico. Translation: Pepe Pecas chops potatoes with a pickaxe. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-tongue-twisters/741330.md?page=2)