Бабин біб розцвів у дощ, буде бабі біб у борщ. (Babyn bib roztsviv u doshch, bude babi bib u borshch.)
Meaning: A bilabial 'b / bib / bor' drill that ends in a very Slavic splash of borscht.
Language: Ukrainian
Literally: Grandma's beans bloomed in the rain; grandma will have beans in her borscht.
Category: Tricky
Origin: A classic Ukrainian tongue twister.
More tongue twisters — Tricky
- She sells seashells by the seashore. — The definitive 's' versus 'sh' alternation — the tongue has to switch place of articulati…
- Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. — A relentless 'p' plosive drill; a peck is an old dry measure of about nine litres.
- Ехал Грека через реку, видит Грека — в реке рак. (Yekhal Greka cherez reku, vidit Greka — v reke rak.) — A rolling 'r/k' drill where Greka, reku and rak keep trading the same two consonants.
- От топота копыт пыль по полю летит. (Ot topota kopyt pyl po polyu letit.) — A 'p/t' hammering that imitates the hoofbeats it describes.
- 八百标兵奔北坡，炮兵并排北边跑。(Bābǎi biāobīng bēn běipō, pàobīng bìngpái běibian pǎo.) — A pure b-versus-p drill, separating Mandarin's unaspirated b from its aspirated p.
- A aranha arranha a rã. A rã arranha a aranha. — Contrasts the soft single r of aranha against the hard rolled rr of arranha — one letter…
From our untranslatable words
- Tartle — That panicky pause when you go to introduce someone and realize you've forgotten their na…
- Tampo — Pulling back your warmth and affection when you've been hurt — going quiet and distant, h…
- Shemomechama — Eating well past fullness simply because the food is too delicious to stop.