The only one I’ve ever been able to do is :
Betty Botter bought as bit of bitter butter,
But, said Betty Botter, if I put it in my batter it will make my batter bitter,
So Betty Botter bought a bit of better butter,
She put it in her batter and it made the batter better.
It’s actially a pretty easy one once you get through it once or twice.
Moses supposes his toeses are roses
But Moses supposes erroneously.
Moses, he knowses his toses arn’t roses,
As Moses supposes his toes to be.
Not to hard to say, but a lot of fun to repeat softly in a crowded elevator.
Roadwalker… I always heard it like this–
Moses supposes his toeses are roses
but moses supposes erroneously.
For nobody’s toeses are poses of roses
as moses supposes his toeses to be
Wierd…
I used to read Fox in Socks aloud to my younger brother and sister to put them to bed at night. We’d always end up laughing like hell instead of getting sleepy.
Fox in Socks rocks.
Bwahahaha! That’s a cinch for me. We use it for warmups all the time at our theatre (hey, it’s good to keep your lines clear and crisp).
We also have an expansion on it, “Red leather, Yellow leather, Good blood, Bad blood”.
Another one that the long-time theatre folks do is this:
“What a to do to die today at a minute or two to two.
A thing distinctly hard to say but harder still to do.
For they’ll beat a tattoo at twenty to two.
With a rata-tatata-tatatata-too. And the dragon will come
When he hears the drum, at a minute or two to two today.
At a minute or two to two”
… But most folks can only remember the first line, and it’s all that’s needed for warmups, anyway.
One smart fellow. He felt smart.
Two smart fellows. They felt smart.
Three smart fellows. They all felt smart.
(I even had a hard time typing that one!)
I have a hard enough time saying “statistics” once, let alone five times fast…
Gaaah, why did I efer open thith thwead?! Now my tongth in knotth!
Crawlth out to find thomeone who can untie her tongue
I’m not the fig plucker; I’m the fig plucker’s son.
But I’ll pluck figs until the fig plucker comes.
Say it fast enough, and before long you’ll be perforing carnal acts with porcines!
You’re all wrong! Here’s the ultimate tongue twister! bwa-ha-ha!
I am a mother pheasant plucker,
I pluck mother pheasants.
I am the best mother pheasant plucker,
that ever plucked a mother pheasant!
From here (and the Guiness people):
“Perhaps the most difficult is the Xhosa tongue-twister “Iqaqa laziqikaqika kwaze kwaqhawaka uqhoqhoqha” which means “the shunk rolled down and ruptured its larynx.” The last word of that sentence contains 3 throaty “clicks.””
Shut up the shutters and sit in the shop.
Hey! I was gonna post that one!
Instead, I’ll submit his brother…
One sock cutter, she cuts socks.
Two sock cutters, they cut socks.
Three sock cutters, they cut socks.
Try saying this three time very quickly. It’s very short, and I didn’t see it in any of the posts, but it’s a tough one for me to say quickly.
A big black bug bled black blood.
Here are my most difficult warm-ups from my theater days:
She brews a proper cup of coffee in her copper coffee pot.
Many mumbling mice are making midnight music in the moonlight, mighty nice.
and the classic: I slit a sheet, a sheet I slit, upon my slitted sheet I sit.
Rubber baby buggy bumpers.
Can any linguists actually explain what a ‘tongue twister’ is? Is it a certain amount of consonants or vowels in a certain order? Words make you form your mouth in different ways, so would they be two words in opposite ends of spectrum?
Say the letter “U”. your lips pout
Say the letter “X”, your mouth stays open.
I imagine saying something rapidly with lots of opposing lip movements constitutes a tongue twister.
Shit I just gave myself a headache.
Tonari no kyaku wa yoku kakiku kyaku da.
Japanese is great for tongue twisters. This one translates (depending on which character for “kaki” you use):
“The guy next door eats a lot of oysters/persimmons.”
The idea is that the walls are so thin you can hear him eat.
It may be the Boston in me, but I cannot say “rural” or “furor.” I pull muscles trying.
Try imagining an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.
One of the G&S groups I’ve worked with often uses a lengthy series of variations on this theme as a vocal warmup – I don’t remember the whole thing but it ends with “If I can’t have a proper cup of coffee in a proper copper coffeepot I’ll have a cup of tea!”
(Speaking of G&S, another terribly difficult phrase, though not the ultimate tongue twister, that I forgot in my last post: “his sisters and his cousins and his aunts.” Sibilants…overpowering…)