Бабин біб розцвів у дощ, буде бабі біб у борщ. (Babyn bib roztsviv u doshch, bude babi bib u borshch.) (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.) (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.) (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.) (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…

← Back to Tongue Twisters

Loading the full interactive collection…