Language & Grammar discussion

Anyone know of any really hard tongue twisters --that make sense? Better yet, can anyone recommend a tongue twister book??? So far the best I've come across is about Theophilus Thistle (it's one of those ones that has you spitting at the end!):

Theophilus thistle, the successful thistle sifter,
While sifting a sieve full of unsifted thistles,
Thrust three thousand thistles through the thick of his thumb.

Now, if Theophilus thistle, the successful thistle sifter,
While sifting a sieve full of unsifted thistles,
Thrust three thousand thistles through the thick of his thumb,
See that thou, while sifting a sieve full of unsifted thistles
Thrust not three thousand thistles through the thick of thy thumb.

Success to the successful thistle sifter!


And this one about Betty Botter is pretty good too:

Betty Botter had some butter,
"But," she said, "this butter's bitter.
If I bake this bitter butter,
it would make my batter bitter.
But a bit of better butter--
that would make my batter better."

So she bought a bit of butter,
better than her bitter butter,
and she baked it in her batter,
and the batter was not bitter.
So 'twas better Betty Botter
bought a bit of better butter.

I'm not the pheasant plucker
I'm the pheasant pluckers son
I'm only plucking pheasants
Til the pheasant plucker comes.

LOL! That's hilarious! I can't use that one with my class--but I can certainly email it to all my friends (!!!)

Would your students take a few liberties with that one, East? ;)

Ya think Sarah! (LOL!) What's worse is that I'd be laughing my head off and then I'd have to explain why (!!) LOL!!

I think it's designed to "create" that mistake. Kids would love to legitimately "err" and be "human" (tee and hee).

I only know the garden variety tongue twisters: Peter Piper and his pickled peppers, She and her bloody seashells at the (where else?) sea shore, and the woodchuck chucking wood (how much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?).

Is "woodchuck" an Americanism, I wonder? Or maybe they are a New World mammal only. I know they're called "groundhogs," too, but we call 'em woodchucks in this shoulder of the woods.

No sh*t? Groundhogs and woodchucks are the same thing?

aw ne you took my woodchuck :(

No woodchucks OR groundhogs in my neck of the woods...are they a rodent like a squirrel?

Chuck's gallery:

http://www.fotosearch.com/photos-imag...

The only one that come to my mind is:
Rubber baby buggy bumpers

Surely there is a book filled with these that twisteth the tongue. Off to research ... if I'm not back in a couple of days, check all the local hospitals-- tongue twisting may require surgery :(

I hope this helps a little bit East :)

Some websites I found:
1st International Collection of Tongue Twisters
Dave's ESL Cafe: Tongue Twisters

And a couple of book possibilities:
Singing Tongue Twisters A-Z
Tongue Twister Bookstore

Thanks NE...clarified.

Any noise annoys an oyster,
But a noisy noise annoys an oyster more.

mares eat oats
and does eat oats
and little lambs eat ivy
i'd eat ivy too
wouldn't you?

A kiddle eat ivy, man!

Thanks Sarah! Off to Amazon to check them out :D

oh you're right ruth
i knew it didn't sound right!

thanks

Sally sells sea shells by the sea shore. But if Sally sells sea shells by the sea shore then where are the sea shells Sally sells?

or

Sweet sagacious Sally Sanders said she sure saw seven segregated seaplanes sailing swiftly southward Saturday.

We used to sing a tongue twister song in school.
Peter Piper and Betty Bottin's buttered bisquits were verses and the chorus was:

She sells seashells/Down by the old seashore/Shave a cedar shingle thin/and let the fun begin.

And another verse was:
Sister Susie's sewing socks for soldiers.
Socks for soldiers Sister Susie sews.
If Sister Susie's sewing socks for soldiers,
Where's the sock for soldiers that Sister Susie sews?

A great polish one is:
Król Karol kupił królowej Karolinie korale koloru koralowego.
King Charles bought for Queen Charlotte coral-coloured corals.
but my favourite is:
Chrzaszez brzmi w trzcinie w Szczebrzeszynie strzasa krople dzdzu!
A beetle sounds in a the reeds in Strzebrzeszyn, disturbing rain drops.

You speak Polish? I only know Polish swears, thanks to my Babcia (who no doubt would be alarmed). Dziadek, on the other hand, never uttered a profanity within my hearing.

I speak Polish badly, indeed a lot of languages badly! .... I never knew my Polish grandmother, she died before Latvia's last liberation 1991. I used to frequent the Polish clubs in London in my misspent youth:); also the Polish church around that time. My first wife was Polish, so I did get used.
I'm a bit of a cocktail! Latvian, Polish and Anglo-Welsh, born in London with an Egyptian wife... this is what I know about!

Bugs' black blood

(repeat 5 times fast)

Say t-w-o
Say t-o-o
Say t-w-a-i-n
Say them together
We call them "railroads."

Any noise annoys an oyster but a noisy noise annoys an oyster more.

I hate you David! I have been trying bugs black blood for ages and can't do it...hell, I can scarcely type it!

Three bottles of retsina and you'll do it fine. Or not care whether you do or not.

Not caring sounds good!!

At the opening of the Sydney Bridge Club they were fishing them out of the main sewers every half an hour!

What? Not-carers or bottles of retsina?

Drinkers of Australian table wines, per Monty Python.

How 'bout an Italian one???

il Papa pesa il pepe a Pisa, Pisa pesa il pepe al Papa

haha! this is good :D

the only one I can come up with right now is:
"Red Lorry, Yellow Lorry" - and then say that fast many times :P

and here's a norwegian one if you want to try (it's hard..) :
"Ibsens ripsbusker og andre buskevekster"

What does yours mean, Sigrid?
I've got a German one for you (although most German phrases are tongue twisters to most people):

Fischers Fritze fischt frische Fische, frische Fische fischt Fischers Fritze.

It means:
"Ibsen's (famous Norwegian author: Henrik Ibsen) currant bushes and other shrubs" :P
ohh.. I have rather a lot of french ones too, so if anyones interested I can post the best ones here later..

grebrim, does yours have something to do with fish..?

"Fritz Fischer fishes fresh fish, fresh fish fishes Fritz Fischer" - not that simple in English, either.

Ouf course I've heard about Ibsen, is he good?

yay! I was right: it was about fish :P
I think it's easier in English, 'cause I really don't understand german.. :P but how can det fish fish Fritz..?

haha! Good ;)
I've read Peer Gynt wich was crazy! A lot of people think it's heavy reading and that much of it doesn't make much sense, but I really liked it, maybe just because it was so crazy, and I managed to make sense of it I think. I would recomend you to try it if you're interested. it is a really incredibly famous piece after all ;)

Can I make one up?

We rightly want wonky wrinkled red woodpeckers washed.

Here's one I actually got from a P.G. Wodehouse book. One character says it to prove that he's sober...

Oswald the thistle sifter, while sifting a sack full of thistles, thrust a thorn into the thick of his thumb.

Made this up, hope it makes sense;p

Wanda wonders which wet, windy Wednesday will wee William walk with Westly Wrigley, whacky Wyoming weatherworker?

Harvey wrote: "A great polish one is:
Król Karol kupił królowej Karolinie korale koloru koralowego.
King Charles bought for Queen Charlotte coral-coloured corals.
but my favourite is:
Chrzaszez brzmi w trzcinie w..."

I'm Polish too (Born in Australia though) :D My parents and cousin told me these tongue twisters.. and OMG I can't do it well haha. Even reading it is hard :P

1. Spod czeskich strzech szło Czechów trzech.

2. Pójdźże, kiń tę chmurność w głąb flaszy.
(This sentence contains all 32 characters of the Polish alphabet
and every character is used only once!)

There a heaappppss more :D!

Try saying those twice as fast when you're drunk lol

Can't drink till I'm 18 thank you! :P

But yesss! Omg I cannot wait. I'd be spitting everywhere! hhahaah

Well if not inebriated, in your case, try saying it three times as fast when you've just woken up:)

Haha, it'd turn into mumbling very fast.

Mumbling is cheating, tsk tsk:p

Who says you have to start drinking (alcohol) at 18? It's OK to turn it and spurn it!

And dzien dobry, by the way.

I might have drunk a liiiitle bit at New Years. :P hushh..

*gasp* You're Polish? :o For me though, it is dobry wieczór ^^