Tongue twisterTricky
English
EnglishShe sells seashells by the seashore.
Meaning: The definitive 's' versus 'sh' alternation — the tongue has to switch place of articulation on almost every word.
Origin: From a 1908 song by British music-hall writer Terry Sullivan. Popularly tied to fossil hunter Mary Anning, though no concrete evidence links her to it.
More English tongue twisters
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- Pad kid poured curd pulled cod. Alternating repetition — the consonants swap at the start of every other word, which is w…
- Red lorry, yellow lorry. The 'l/r' alternation drill — deceptively short, yet almost impossible to say fast withou…
- How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? A 'w/ch/ck' drill that accelerates comically — and nobody really knows the answer.
- 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…
- Betty Botter bought some butter, but she said the butter's bitter. A 'b / t / tt' plosive drill that bounces between Betty, butter, and bitter.
Explore another collection: Idioms
Colorful expressions from dozens of languages, with their word-for-word translations.
- Caught between a rock and a hard place Stuck between two equally bad options.
- To show your true colors To reveal your real character at last.
- blow off steam To release pent-up anger, energy or stress harmlessly.
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