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Sopra la panca la capra campa, sotto la panca la capra crepa.

Meaning: A beloved 'c' / 'p' rhythm trap.

Language: Italian

Literally: On the bench the goat lives; under the bench the goat dies.

Category: Tricky

Origin: Italy's most-quoted twister.

More tongue twisters — Tricky

  • 坊主が屏風に上手に坊主の絵を描いた (Bōzu ga byōbu ni jōzu ni bōzu no e o kaita) — A sustained 'b' and long-vowel drill — bōzu/byōbu/jōzu demand precise mouth control.
  • El perro de San Roque no tiene rabo porque Ramón Ramírez se lo ha robado. — A rolled-'r' workout — every word demands the vibrating trill.
  • Seize chaises sèches sur seize arches sèches. — A relentless collision of 'sei', 'sèch', and 's' — the tongue can't find traction.
  • Un beau ver vert dans un verre vert verra un ver vert. — Ver (worm), vert (green), and verre (glass) are near-homophones — distinguishing them at…
  • Wenn Fliegen hinter Fliegen fliegen, fliegen Fliegen Fliegen nach. — Fliegen means 'flies' (insects), 'to fly', and 'flying' — all at once, relentlessly.
  • Der Cottbuser Postkutscher putzt den Cottbuser Postkutschkasten. — A jaw-breaking compound-noun 'ts/tsch/sch' marathon — the German love of compound words w…

More Italian tongue twisters

  • Trentatré trentini entrarono a Trento tutti e trentatré trotterellando. — An unbroken stampede of 'tr' and 't'.
  • Tigre contro tigre, tigre contro un'altra tigre. — Pure 't/ig/re' drill — short and merciless; the double-g demands a crisp Italian stop.
  • Apelle figlio di Apollo fece una palla di pelle di pollo e tutti i principi della città di Capua la palpeggiarono. — A wall of 'p/ll/l/a' that seems to grow longer as you speak it faster.
  • Se la serpe si avvicina alla siepe del serpente, il serpente scappa dalla siepe. — A sibilant 's/se/si/sci' minefield; both words (serpe and serpente) slither through the s…
  • Chi è Ciccio Capece? Ciccio Capece è un capocaccia che caccia con la cacciaballa. — A 'c/ci/ccia' onslaught — Italian's hard and soft c in the same sentence, non-stop.

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