Flyg, fula fluga, flyg! Och den fula flugan flög.

Meaning: An 'fl' cluster repeated through three different vowels — y, u and ö, all of them front rounded.

Language: Swedish

Literally: Fly, ugly fly, fly! And the ugly fly flew.

Category: Tricky

Origin: A classic Swedish twister that doubles as a drill for the language's rounded vowels.

More tongue twisters — Tricky

• De koetsier poetst de postkoets met postkoetspoets. — Turns on the gap between the Dutch 'oe' and 'o', with a run of 'ts' and 'p' stops layered…
• Liesje leerde Lotje lopen langs de lange Lindelaan. — Eight consecutive l-words, with the vowel behind the l changing every time.
• Un chasseur sachant chasser doit savoir chasser sans son chien. — The classic French 'ch' / 's' tangler.
• Tres tristes tigres tragaban trigo en un trigal. — A relentless run on the 'tr' sound.
• Fischers Fritz fischt frische Fische, frische Fische fischt Fischers Fritz. — The German 'f' / 'sch' staple.
• Sopra la panca la capra campa, sotto la panca la capra crepa. — A beloved 'c' / 'p' rhythm trap.

More Swedish tongue twisters

• Sex laxar i en laxask. — A short 'x/lax/ks' crunch — Swedish's 'x' sounds like 'ks', which doubles the trap.
• Sju sjösjuka sjömän skötte sjuttiosju sjösjuka sjölejon på skeppet Shanghai. — An unstoppable 'sj/sk/sh' onslaught — the Swedish sj-sound (a unique voiceless fricative)…
• Far, får får får? Nej, får får inte får, får får lamm. — får means both 'sheep' and 'gets' — seven identical-looking words carrying two different…
• Packa pappas kappsäck. — Three words, six hard k and p stops, and almost no vowel variety to rest on.

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