Sju sjösjuka sjömän skötte sjuttiosju sjösjuka sjölejon på skeppet Shanghai.

Meaning: An unstoppable 'sj/sk/sh' onslaught — the Swedish sj-sound (a unique voiceless fricative) in every word.

Literally: Seven seasick sailors tended seventy-seven seasick sea lions on the ship Shanghai.

Origin: Considered Sweden's hardest tongue twister and a benchmark test for Swedish pronunciation.

More Swedish tongue twisters

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.
Flyg, fula fluga, flyg! Och den fula flugan flög. An 'fl' cluster repeated through three different vowels — y, u and ö, all of them front r…
Sex laxar i en laxask. A short 'x/lax/ks' crunch — Swedish's 'x' sounds like 'ks', which doubles the trap.

Words that capture a feeling or idea English needs a whole sentence for.

Gökotta Rising at first light for no reason but to go outside and hear the birds sing.
Mångata The shimmering, road-like reflection the moon casts across water.
Resfeber The mix of nervous excitement and anticipatory anxiety you feel before a journey — your h…

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