경찰청 철창살은 외철창살이고 검찰청 철창살도 외철창살이다. (Gyeongchalcheong cheolchangsal eun oe cheolchangsal igo, geomchalcheong cheolchangsal do oe cheolchangsal ida.)
Meaning: A 'cheong/cheol/chal' onslaught — Korean's aspirated stops and affricates in relentless sequence.
Language: Korean
Literally: The police station iron bars are single iron bars; the prosecution iron bars are also single iron bars.
Category: Fiendish
Origin: One of Korea's hardest certified twisters; feared even by native speakers.
More tongue twisters — Fiendish
- Strč prst skrz krk. — Four words, zero vowels — the most concentrated consonant cluster challenge in any Europe…
- The sixth sick sheikh's sixth sheep's sick. — Believed by Guinness to be among the hardest in English — 'six/sick/sheikh/sheep' blur in…
- غاب الغيم وغابت غابة الغاب. (Ghāb al-ghaym wa ghābat ghābat al-ghāb.) — An unbroken sequence of 'gh' (غ) — a voiced uvular fricative that drills the back of the…
- Chandu ke chacha ne Chandu ki chachi ko chandi ki chamach se chatni chatayi. — A 'ch' symphony from start to finish — Hindi's palatal affricate in every single word.
- Sju sjösjuka sjömän skötte sjuttiosju sjösjuka sjölejon på skeppet Shanghai. — An unstoppable 'sj/sk/sh' onslaught — the Swedish sj-sound (a unique voiceless fricative)…
- Appilan pappilan apupapin papupata pankolla kiehuu ja kuohuu. — A relentless 'pap/pap/pu' bilabial drill stacked with Finnish double consonants.
More Korean tongue twisters
- 네가 그린 기린 그림은 못 그린 기린 그림이고 내가 그린 기린 그림은 잘 그린 기린 그림이다. (Nega geurin girin geurimeun mot geurin girin geurimigo, naega geurin girin geurimeun jal geurin girin geurimida.) — geurin, girin and geurim rotate through nearly the same syllables with only the vowel mov…
- 앞 집 팥죽은 붉은 팥 풋팥죽이고, 뒷집 콩죽은 햇콩 단콩 콩죽이다. (Ap jip patjugeun bulgeun pat put-patjugigo, dwitjip kongjugeun haetkong dankong kongjugida.) — Stacks Korean's aspirated p and k against the final consonants, so every word ends where…
- 저 분은 백 법학박사이고 이 분은 박 법학박사이다. (Jeo buneun Baek beopakbaksa igo, i buneun Bak beopakbaksa ida.) — Baek and Bak are a single vowel apart, and 법학박사 piles four stop consonants into one title.
- 간장 공장 공장장은 장 공장장이고 된장 공장 공장장은 강 공장장이다. (Ganjang gongjang gongjangjang eun Jang gongjangjang igo, doenjang gongjang gongjangjang eun Gang gongjangjang ida.) — A 'gong/jang/gang' syllable storm — the two surnames (Jang/Gang) swap while the rest stay…
From our false friends
- Magazzino — Actually means 'warehouse' or 'storeroom'. A magazine (periodical) is una rivista.
- Conveniente — Actually means 'affordable', 'good value', or 'suitable'. È conveniente = It's a good dea…
- Morbido — Actually means 'soft', 'gentle', or 'smooth'. Una voce morbida = a gentle, smooth voice.